Chiefs defeat Bengals, clinch AFC West title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

For an eighth consecutive season, the Kansas City Chiefs have captured the AFC West crown. Patrick Mahomes and company beat the Cincinnati Bengals 25-17 on Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, behind a career-best six field goals from Harrison Butker.

After the victory, the Chiefs are now locked into the No. 3 seed in the NFL playoffs, heading into the final week of the season.

Trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, Mahomes gave the Chiefs their first lead of the game after finding Isiah Pacheco for an 8-yard touchdown. However, Cincinnati marched down the field on back-to-back drives, scoring two touchdowns on a 7-yard pass to Joe Mixon and a 1-yard run by Jake Browning. After Cincinnati's second touchdown drive of the contest, the Bengals led 17-7.

The only points scored by both teams for the rest of the game were courtesy of Butker. He drilled six field goals over the final 34 minutes to help the Chiefs clinch the AFC West title. Four of Butker's six field goals were 40 yards or more.

Mahomes posted a solid outing in Kansas City's final regular season home game. He completed 21 of his 29 throws for 245 yards and one touchdown. 127 of Mahomes' passing yards went to Rashee Rice.

Isiah Pacheco recorded 130 rushing yards, and he also added seven receptions for 35 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Kansas City's defense wreaked havoc on Cincinnati's offense most of the game. As a team, the Chiefs recorded six sacks and eight tackles for loss in the 8-point victory.

Up next - Kansas City travels to Los Angeles for the team's final regular season game. The kickoff time against the Chargers on Sunday, Jan. 7 has not been released yet.