The Kansas City Chiefs just keep rolling.
Despite injury concerns across the offense, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs improved to 5-0 on the season with a 26-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday at Arrowhead Stadium. New Orleans is trending in the opposite direction and fell to 2-3 with its third straight loss.
Derek Carr also left the game with an oblique injury in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes largely dazzled and went 28-of-39 for 331 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception, while Kareem Hunt (102 rushing yards and one touchdown), Travis Kelce (nine catches for 70 yards) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (seven catches for 130 yards) played impressive supporting roles.
Social media had plenty of reaction to the combined showing:
On paper, the Chiefs are undefeated and a clear threat to win a third straight Super Bowl. However, that record overlooks the adversity they are facing with significant injuries to running back Isiah Pacheco and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
That puts more of the onus on the other offensive playmakers, and they wasted little time making an impact as the home team struck first. Hunt scored the touchdown but only after Kelce worked into space over the middle for multiple receptions.
Of course, it helps having Mahomes under center.
The future Hall of Famer made a number of plays with his legs, used different arm angles for his throws and manipulated the defense with pump fakes all while relying on his always trusty connection with Kelce. And Kelce even mixed in a lateral to Samaje Perine on 3rd-and-22 just for good measure as the pair put on a show while establishing a 16-7 halftime lead.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the offense, as it consistently stalled in the red zone for field goals instead of touchdowns. It didn’t even manage a field goal on one drive late in the third quarter when Smith-Schuster couldn’t haul in a potential touchdown that popped up in the air and fell into the waiting arms of Khalen Saunders.
The big man’s return gave the Saints some much-needed momentum, which only increased when Carr found Foster Moreau for a touchdown to climb within three. But Mahomes had an answer, like he almost always does.
He found Smith-Schuster for a 50-yard pass before Kelce took a direct snap and handed it to Xavier Worthy for a touchdown run. And then the quarterback mixed in some magic on a scramble play when he escaped multiple defenders and dove for a dramatic first down to prolong a drive that eventually ended in a field goal.
Kansas City’s defense also played well with an interception from Bryan Cook, multiple fourth-down stops and timely pressure on Carr. If the defense continues to play at that level and Mahomes does what Mahomes does, the Chiefs will be able to survive the injuries.
They did Monday and now head into their
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