Cleveland, Pittsburgh NFL teams lose; Chiefs gain wild-card playoff berth

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

The Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the playoffs.

Imagine that when they were 1-5.

Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes for Kansas City, and the game clock finally stopped Johnny Manziel as the Chiefs held on to beat the Cleveland Browns 17-13 on Sunday for their franchise record-tying ninth consecutive victory.

When Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore moments after the game, Kansas City (10-5) clinched a wild-card berth. The Chiefs can still win the AFC West with a victory in their finale against Oakland a loss by Denver on Monday night or in the Broncos’ regular-season finale.

In the Steelers game, Ryan Mallet threw for a career-high 274 yards in his first start with Baltimore and led the Ravens to a 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in one of the biggest upsets of this contentious rivalry.

Read the full stories Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.