CHARVARIUS WARD

General manager John Lynch still views his San Francisco 49ers as a Super Bowl contender despite a string of injuries, lackluster performances and a 3-3 start to the season.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns, Byron Pringle caught two of the TD passes, and the Chiefs beat the Steelers 36-10 on Sunday to clinch their sixth consecutive AFC West title.

Another 21 NFL players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, including Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, cornerback Rashad Fenton and tight end Blake Bell.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 63 yards and a touchdown in his return from injured reserve as the Chiefs beat the Cowboys 19-9.

Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes and returned to his usual form after a surprisingly shaky stretch this season, and the Kansas City Chiefs moved into first place in the AFC West with a 41-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes three different ways, including three to Tyreek Hill, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 42-30 on Sunday.

Justin Herbert’s touchdown toss to Mike Williams with 32 seconds to go lifted the Los Angeles Chargers to a 30-24 victory over the Chiefs.

The offensive line that the Kansas City Chiefs aggressively overhauled this offseason has taken a hit.

Now, the Chiefs will have to take a much different tact if they want to make their third consecutive Super Bowl. While their core group is signed for the next several years, the Chiefs have a raft of important contributors that are due to hit free agency. Ad“Like all teams, we'll get busy here going down the road,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday. “Every year is different because of your cap situation and what you have and what you need,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said. WELCOME BACKThe Chiefs should get some help from guys that were injured or opted out of this past season.

The Chiefs only committed three penalties in the second half to finish the game with 11 for 120 yards. Reid burned two timeouts, after two short Bucs gains, thinking the Chiefs might get the ball back. Brady came into the game with six Super Bowls titles, in part because he wins most of those mind games. Amid that sea of yellow, the Chiefs were seeing red. “Only referees can call the penalties, and penalties affect the game 1000 percent," defensive lineman Chris Jones said.

(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke, File)There was a regular-season shootout and a playoff masterpiece the first season that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady met on a football field. Brady came out ahead in those two meetings, but Mahomes has gotten the edge the past two times they met. Mahomes added a 20-yard TD pass to Hill in the third quarter to make it a 17-point game. Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three TDs, with Hill leading the way with 13 catches for 269 yards. Mahomes injured his hand on the second drive of the game yet finished with 283 yards passing and a TD.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first NFL title since 1970 when they beat San Francisco in last year's Super Bowl. What we get Sunday is a matchup of dynamic offenses and overlooked defenses, the top two teams in the conference. Kansas City (15-2) has the confidence of a reigning champion and a charisma few NFL teams can match. That could provide an edge over Bills rookie Tyler Bass — except that Bass has been very reliable all season. Buffalo punter Corey Bojorquez and Kansas City rookie Johnny Townsend were two of the most dependable in the AFC.

Nearly every team still vying for the Super Bowl has an elite cornerback often capable of shutting down an opponent's top receiver all by himself. The NFC playoff bracket has three of the conference's four Pro Bowl cornerbacks: Green Bay's Jaire Alexander, Los Angeles' Jalen Ramsey and New Orleans' Marshon Lattimore. Staley's scheme has employed Ramsey in multiple roles throughout the season, and his job often changes from play to play. Oddly enough, the remaining playoff team perceived to have the least dominant cornerbacks is defending champion Kansas City, the favorite to make it back to the Super Bowl. “Some of the best cornerbacks happen to play on the best teams, that’s all I can say,” Bills safety Micah Hyde said.

Start with running back, where Giants star Saquon Barkley is believed to have torn the ACL in his right knee early in their loss at Chicago. The 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo tried to play through a right ankle injury before Nick Mullens took over for the second half. Tevin Coleman also left San Francisco's win over the Jets with a late knee injury. Along with Lock and Sutton, the Broncos lost defensive end Dre'Mont Jones to a knee injury in their defeat at Pittsburgh. Washington guard Brandon Scherff, who left early in Arizona with a knee injury, was among the offensive linemen hurt around the NFL on Sunday.

That run includes a come-from-behind 51-31 victory over the Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Texans' Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score, but he also was under relentless pressure and was intercepted once. The elusive Johnson finished it off by scampering 19 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Watson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a TD later in the quarter to make the final score a bit more respectable. The teams then stood together in a line that stretched from one end zone to the other for a moment of silence before the coin toss.