KANSAS CITY Joejuan Williams NFL Draft , Mo. ¡ª Patrick Mahomes struggled in the first half and dazzled in the second Sunday night.Nobody knows how he might have fared in overtime.The Chiefs¡® young All-Pro threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns against New England, almost all of it after the break, only to watch the extra session from the bench. The Patriots won the coin toss and never gave him a chance, scoring on the only possession they needed to escape with a 37-31 victory in the first AFC championship game ever played at Arrowhead Stadium.¡°I thought if we got the chance we¡¯d score,¡± said Mahomes, who instead praised the Patriots¡¯ Tom Brady for converting a trio of third-and-10s to give Rex Burkhead a chance to score the winning TD.¡°He had a great drive,¡± Mahomes said. ¡°Big moments, guys made big catches for him.¡±Mahomes had plenty of big moments in his own right.After a dismal first half in which he was 4 of 8 for 65 yards and three sacks, Mahomes caught fire in the third quarter. He needed just four plays to find Travis Kelce for a touchdown that trimmed a 14-0 deficit in half, then kept slinging the ball in what became a back-and-forth fourth quarter.The Patriots scored two touchdowns. The Chiefs managed three.Mahomes was behind it all, shredding a Patriots defense that had played reasonably well down the stretch this season. He hit Damien Williams with a short TD flip to get within 17-14 early in the fourth quarter Joejuan Williams Buffalo Bills Jersey , then found his elusive running back again with a 23-yard completion that gave Kansas City its first lead at 21-17 with 7:45 remaining in the game.¡°They blitzed about every down, played man coverage, and they were able to get home a little bit on some of their games,¡± Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ¡°We made a few adjustments at halftime, should have done that earlier ¡ª that¡¯s my responsibility. But I¡¯m proud of the way the guys battled back.¡±But the Patriots kept battling, too.Brady led them the other way, and Sony Michel scored from 10 yards on fourth down, only for the Chiefs¡¯ mop-haired QB to answer with a 38-yard pass to Sammy Watkins that set up Williams¡¯ TD run.Back came the Patriots, who in their eighth consecutive conference championship game showed no sign of nerves. They caught a break when an interception was wiped out by an offside call, and Burkhead¡¯s TD run with 39 seconds left appeared to have given New England a 31-28 victory.Then again, Mahomes long ago proved that 39 seconds can last an eternity.He immediately found running back Spencer Ware for 21 yards Color Rush Joejuan Williams Jersey , the only meaningful play the backup running back made all game. Then, Mahomes hit Demarcus Robinson for 39 yards to the Patriots 21 with 16 seconds left, giving the Chiefs ¡ª without any timeouts ¡ª one shot at the end zone.Mahomes wound up throwing it away, and Harrison Butker¡®s 39-yard field goal forced overtime.By that point the Patriots knew full well the best way to stop Mahomes was to keep him on the bench. So their confidence no doubt soared when they won the coin toss for overtime, and Brady took advantage of the opportunity by finding Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on their march downfield.Mahomes could only look on as the Patriots ended his dream season.¡°They challenged us,¡± he said. ¡°They came up and played man defense. Not a lot of teams did that this year. The first half we struggled, we couldn¡¯t make much happen. The second half we were up to the challenge, we found ways to win one-on-one matchups.¡°We gave everything we had,¡± Mahomes said. ¡°They ended up making more plays at the end.¡±Jason McCourty agrees to a restructured deal to remain with the Patriots Amid the flurry of Tuesday morning¡¯s roster activity was the news that, according to ESPN¡¯s Mike Reiss, the Patriots and Jason McCourty reached an agreement to restructure the defensive back¡¯s 2018 contract prior to Sunday¡¯s victory in Foxborough.Here¡¯s how Jason McCourty¡¯s deal now breaks down on the team¡¯s salary cap sheet:2018 salary: $1 Youth Joejuan Williams Jersey ,600,0002018 roster bonus: $375,000 (already paid)Per-game bonuses: $350,000 ($400,000 ¡°LTBE¡± for 14 games)¡°LTBE¡± Incentives: $1,000,000Offseason workout bonus: $7,095Total 2018 cap figure: $3,332,095Because McCourty played in 84.18% of the Browns¡¯ defensive snaps a year ago, the $1 Womens Joejuan Williams Jersey ,000,000 playing time incentives will be considered likely to be earned (LTBE), increasing his 2018 cap figure by $356,250. In turn, the restructure will cost the Patriots that amount in 2018 cap space ¡ª a figure that could increase by $50,000 if he is active for all 16 regular season games this year.Why would the team agree to a restructure that would cost them cap space ¡ª particularly with a player who was perceived to be on the roster bubble coming out of camp? It¡¯s simple, really. The team clearly sees the value in having McCourty provide depth at multiple positions in the secondary, while also contributing on special teams. However, his contract just wasn¡¯t commensurate with that type of role. In reality, the agreement is a player pay cut of which the salary cap benefits for the organization are deferred. Barring an epidemic of injuries to the team¡¯s secondary, McCourty will not come close to earning much Authentic Joejuan Williams Jersey , if not all, of the playing time incentives ¡ª as evidence by his 6 defensive snaps played against the Texans. Any unearned incentive cash, as well as any unpaid per-game bonus money, will be credited to the team¡¯s 2019 adjusted cap figure.McCourty ¡ª an NFL veteran playing in his 10th season ¡ª is clearly happy with an opportunity for a spot on a roster where he can chase a Super Bowl victory alongside his twin brother. Were he not to agree to the pay cut, he likely would have been released, leaving him with the improbability of receiving comparable compensation on the open market for his services.Coupled with the signings of wide receivers Corey Coleman and Bennie Fowler on Tuesday, the Patriots¡¯ 2018 cap space figure currently sits around $4.8 million.Follow Brian Phillips on Twitter @BPhillips_SB