Patrick Mahomes knew he could run on the ankle he sprained last week. The bigger concern for the Chiefs quarterback was how he would stop, when all the weight and pressure and momentum would land squarely upon it.

The solution against Houston was simple: Mahomes didn’t stop.

The two-time MVP kept chugging forward until he plowed into the end zone on a 15-yard scramble to cap the Chiefs’ opening drive on Saturday. Mahomes proceeded to throw for 260 yards and another score, never once looking troubled by his ailing ankle, and led Kansas City to a 27-19 victory that put the Chiefs on the brink of the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Chiefs (14-1) can clinch the postseason bye and home-field advantage if Buffalo loses to or ties New England on Sunday. If the Bills win, Kansas City can wrap it up by beating Pittsburgh on Christmas Day — its third game in an 11-day span.

“I ask a lot from the guys around me. I feel like if I’m going to ask them to play through pain and nicks and bruises, I’ve got to do it as well,” Mahomes said. “That’s something that I pride myself on is being out there with my guys.”

Xavier Worthy had seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown, Kareem Hunt ran for 55 yards and another score, and Marquise Brown had five catches for 45 yards for Kansas City in his first game this season after recovering from a shoulder injury.

The result was what Chiefs coach Andy Reid called his team’s most comprehensive performance of the season.

As for Mahomes?

“He spoils the dog out of us, he’s so tough,” Reid said. “You get used to it. But most guys don’t come back from that like he did.”

C.J. Stroud threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Houston (9-6), and one of those TD throws came at a great expense.

Tank Dell, who had six catches for 98 yards, sustained a devastating knee injury on the play and was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center, where Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he would remain overnight.

“All our thoughts and prayers are with Tank right now. You see what he means to our entire team,” Ryans said. “It hurts to see him go down like that. He was having a fantastic game, playing really well for us.”

Ravens clinch postseason spot

Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes and Marlon Humphrey scored on a fourth-quarter interception return to help the Baltimore Ravens pull even with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North with a 34-17 victory over the Steelers.

Pittsburgh (10-5) would have clinched the division with a victory, but now the teams are deadlocked after the Ravens (10-5) won for just the second time in the last 10 games in this series. Baltimore clinched a playoff berth. The Steelers had already done so.

Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, the second of which tied the game at 17 with 5:14 left in the third quarter. Jackson answered with a 7-yard scoring strike to Mark Andrews, and after Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs, a 44-yard run by Derrick Henry put the Ravens in the red zone.

That drive came to nothing when Jackson was intercepted for just the fourth time this season, but then Humphrey picked off Wilson and went 37 yards to the end zone to give Baltimore a cushion in a series that’s been razor-thin of late. The previous nine games between the Steelers and Ravens were decided by seven points or fewer.

Jackson improved to 2-4 against Pittsburgh as a starter. This was his first time facing the Steelers at home since 2020.

Henry rushed for 162 yards.

Pittsburgh entered the game with a plus-18 margin in turnovers, but the Ravens had the edge in that department Saturday. Baltimore recovered three of its own fumbles and had two big takeaways.

Senate passes RFK Stadium land bill

The path for the NFL’s Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House’s slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avowid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise’s former home.

Briefly

Lions >> Detroit activated safety Ifeatu Melifonwu from injured reserve on Saturday, putting him a step closer to making his season debut.

Ravens >> Baltimore receiver Rashod Bateman was active for Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after missing practice earlier in the week because of a foot issue.