UNDATED (AP) — Guess who’s going back to the Super Bowl?
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are NFC champions following a 31-26 win at Green Bay. Their next opponent is the defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs, who earned a 38-24 win over Buffalo in the AFC championship game. The game will be held on Feb. 7 in Tampa.
Brady overcame interceptions on three straight drives by throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns in reaching the Super Bowl for the 10th time in his career.
Scotty Miller grabbed a 39-yard scoring strike with just one second left in the first half, putting the Bucs ahead 21-10. Brady struck again 66 seconds into the third quarter, hitting Cameron Brate for an eight-yard TD that made it 28-10
The Bucs earned their franchise-record eighth consecutive road victory to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since their 2002 championship season. After winning three straight playoff games on the road, Tampa Bay will become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium.
Green Bay trailed 31-23 and had first-and-goal from the 8 in the last few minutes. But after Aaron Rodgers threw three straight incompletions, the Packers settled for Mason Crosby’s 26-yard field goal with 2:05 left despite owning all three of its timeouts.
Rodgers fell to 1-4 in conference championship games as a starting quarterback. He was 33 of 48 for 346 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Chiefs will make consecutive Super Bowl appearances after going 50 years without one. Patrick Mahomes (mah-HOHMZ’) threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns, with most of it to favorite targets Travis Kelce (KEHL’-see) and Tyreek Hill.
Kelce finished with 13 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill added nine catches for 172 yards. They became the first duo in NFL history with consecutive games of at least 100 yards receiving each in a single postseason.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams added short TD runs for Kansas City.
Josh Allen finished with 287 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception, but a big chunk of his numbers came as the Bills tried to rally from a 38-15 deficit in the final minutes.
The Chiefs actually spotted the Bills a 9-0 lead, thanks in large part to Mecole Hardman’s muffed punt inside their 5 that gifted Buffalo a touchdown.
