Marquez Valdes-Scantling has become the closer for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC playoffs.
Last January, the former Green Bay Packers receiver caught six passes for a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown to help the Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game.
He wasn’t quite as productive during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game in Baltimore, but the Packers’ 2018 draft pick delivered the dagger play when he caught a 32-yard pass from Mahomes on 3rd-and-9 before the two-minute warning, allowing the Chiefs to kill the rest of the clock and beat the Ravens.
In back-to-back years, MVS helped send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
MVS IN A BIG SPOT.
📺: #KCvsBAL on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/IIZbdmhqNS pic.twitter.com/qRCH0uuAdw— NFL (@NFL) January 28, 2024
Last week, Valdes-Scantling had a pair of catches over 30 yards during the Chiefs’ win over the Buffalo Bills. He also caught a touchdown pass from Mahomes in the 2022 divisional round.
Valdes-Scantling had a disappointing 2023 season. He dropped several key passes and ended up with only 21 catches for 315 yards and a touchdown while playing over 50 percent of the offense’s snaps over 16 games.
Redemption came in the form of the game-winning play Sunday.
The last playoff game Valdes-Scantling played in Green Bay? The 2020 NFC Championship Game, when he caught four passes for a team-high 115 receiving yards and a touchdown during the Packers’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was inches away from becoming a Packers playoff legend in the second half. Valdes-Scantling was inactive due to injury for the 2021 divisional round loss to the 49ers, and he signed with the Chiefs during the next offseason.
Over four seasons with the Packers, Valdes-Scantling caught 123 passes for 2,153 yards and 13 touchdowns. He led the NFL in yards per catch during the 2020 season.
Valdes-Scantling and the Chiefs will play the NFC champion in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024.