Travis Kelce breaks touchdown record as Kansas City Chiefs beat Pittsburgh Steelers to clinch No 1 seed

Patrick Mahomes passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs locked up the top seed in the AFC for the fourth time in seven seasons with a 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.

The two-time defending Super Bowl champions raced to an early 13-point lead and were never threatened by the Steelers (10-6), who have dropped three straight as their chances of capturing the AFC North took another hit.

Mahomes connected on first-half scoring tosses to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson while Kansas City's defense did most of the rest even with perennial All-Pro defensive end Chris Jones sitting out while nursing a calf injury.

The Chiefs sacked Russell Wilson five times, forced two turnovers and hardly looked gassed while playing for the third time in 11 days.

Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 84 yards while becoming the third tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions, joining Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten.

Kelce sealed Kansas City's fifth straight victory with a 12-yard scoring grab early in the fourth quarter, breaking Gonzalez's franchise record for all-time touchdown catches with the 77th of his career.

Kansas City Chiefs:

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Mahomes is now 4-0 against the Steelers in his career, with 17 touchdowns against one interception.

Russell Wilson threw for 205 yards for Pittsburgh, while George Pickens finished with three receptions for 50 yards after missing three games with a hamstring injury.

It wasn't nearly enough for the Steelers, who went 0-3 during a brutal three-game stretch against Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City. The Steelers lost each game by at least 14 points and now face the prospect of starting the playoffs on the road.

Mahomes, seemingly unbothered by the ankle injury he suffered against Cleveland, led the Chiefs to touchdowns on their first two drives, finding Worthy in the flat for a seven-yard score and hitting Watson in the back corner of the end zone to make it 13-0.

One sequence late in the first quarter symbolised a frustrating day for Pittsburgh. A holding penalty negated a short touchdown run by Jaylen Warren and Wilson threw into triple coverage in the end zone on the next snap. Kansas City's Justin Reid had little trouble grabbing it to end the threat.

The Steelers drew within six twice at 13-7 and 16-10, but never had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the second half. Instead, the Chiefs methodically pulled away.

Kareem Hunt ran over from two yards on the first snap of the fourth quarter to make it 22-10. Pat Freiermuth then fumbled on Pittsburgh's next possession, with Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton falling on the ball and Mahomes needing just four plays to float a pass to a wide-open Kelce to put it out of reach.