Mahomes, Chiefs’ starting offense finally put points on the board in win at Atlanta

When he finally made it into the end zone with football in hand, Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do.

Patrick Mahomes’ 69-yard bomb was the first preseason touchdown for the Chiefs’ first-string offense, and it was certainly worthy of a celebration.

But what?

The wide receiver panicked at first, but then he stopped thinking and started twerking.

“Getting into the end zone, getting that first touchdown for the first offense felt amazing,” Hill said. “The celebration was kind of off-guard, and I really didn’t know what to do. I panicked, and I was like, ‘Imma do this.’ I was having fun, though.”

The whole offense was having fun, too, in the eventual 28-14 win against the Falcons.

Hill ran back to the sideline, greeted by incredulous teammates.

“They was like, man, that was crazy man,” Hill said. “I don’t see how you track the ball. You know, but they don’t realize that’s what I practice all the time.”

Hill’s touchdown catch from Mahomes’ monster throw was the culmination of nearly three preseason quarters without a first-string touchdown. The Chiefs came close in the second quarter but had to settle for a field goal.

On a night where the final score didn’t matter, the Chiefs’ offensive starters benefited from the extended playing time. They settled into a rhythm early and a steady momentum to finally give a glimpse of the high-powered offense the team seems capable of producing on a weekly basis.

“Just to get in the end zone is always a good feeling, kind of a breakthrough,” Mahomes said. “Hopefully we can keep it rolling from now on.”

A week earlier, the offensive starters had only nine plays to work with in one quarter of work. They didn’t score then and struggled to build any kind of momentum.

The Chiefs’ first series in Friday night’s game picked up from the week before in the worst way, and Mahomes and the offense were off the field after three plays.

But in the second, the offense grinded through the early plays, converting a third-and-long with a 14-yard throw to Travis Kelce.

Up to that point, it was Mahomes’ best throw of the preseason.

With Kelce running to the sideline, Mahomes (138 yards, one TD, one interception) threw the ball before Kelce even turned around. And when the tight end finally did look for the ball, it was right where he expected it to be. Kelce hauled the pass in and tiptoed out-of-bounds for the crucial third-down conversion.

Four plays later, Kareem Hunt’s 19-yard catch-and-run put the Chiefs in the red zone for the first time all season. That trip didn’t produce seven points, but the team did manage three points on a 25-yard Harrison Butker field goal for the first official first-string points of the preseason.

“I thought we were in a great rhythm, especially after that first drive,” Mahomes said. “The second drive was a long one where we were getting things going.”

Mahomes had another shot in the next series, but he threw an interception on the first play.

“Patrick, I thought, had some nice plays in there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He had some beautiful ones with the exception of the interception. Everything else, he played pretty well. I was happy with that.”

The second-year quarterback had one final shot after his interception. On his own 8-yard line with just more than a minute until halftime, Mahomes went to work.

He targeted Sammy Watkins first, giving the receiver a chance to atone for the near-interception and interception. But Watkins dropped the pass.

The next play broke down, and Mahomes had to scramble left, gaining 9 yards before he was tackled by linebacker Duke Riley.

After an Atlanta timeout, the offense went to Hunt twice for gains of 9 and 5 yards.

With 28 seconds on the clock, Kansas City called a timeout and schemed up a redeeming ending to an inconsistent half.

When play resumed, Mahomes dropped back and Hill released down the right sideline. With three defenders in pursuit of Hill, Mahomes showed off his arm strength, launching the ball 69 yards down the field to his streaking receiver for the score.

“You always feel better every time you score a touchdown,” Mahomes said. “Just to be able to use the speed we have on the field is always good feeling. It’s something you just get to keep learning. It’s something that comes within the game. You can’t force it. For me, get that to finally breakthrough on the deep ball, was a good feeling.”

FIRST QUARTER

ATL: Hooper 4 pass from Ryan (Marvin kick), 11:20.

<extra_leading>SECOND QUARTER

KC: FG Butker 25, 13:28.

ATL: Ridley 7 pass from Schaub (Marvin kick), 5:00.

KC: Hill 69 pass from Mahomes (Butker kick), :17.

<extra_leading>THIRD QUARTER

KC: Dieter 27 pass from Henne (Butker kick), 9:52.

<extra_leading>FOURTH QUARTER

KC: FG Butker 49, 10:40.

KC: Niemann 26 interception return (Pringle pass from McGloin), 9:40.

Attendance: 71,628.

RUSHING: Kansas City, K.Williams 8-23, Mahomes 2-16, Dar.Williams 6-15, Hunt 7-15, Henne 1-9, McGloin 2-(minus 2). Atlanta, Coleman 5-35, I.Smith 13-34, Schaub 2-5, Ju.Crawford 3-5, M.Williams 2-4, Magee 1-0.

PASSING: Kansas City, Mahomes 8-12-1-138, Henne 8-10-0-85, McGloin 9-10-0-58. Atlanta, Ryan 5-7-0-90, Schaub 7-10-0-75, Benkert 3-8-1-30, Grayson 2-3-0-14.

RECEIVING: Kansas City, Hill 4-87, K.Williams 4-27, Amaro 3-19, Dieter 2-36, Kelce 2-27, Hunt 2-24, Dar.Williams 2-21, Ellis 2-17, Chesson 2-12, Pringle 1-9, Kemp 1-2. Atlanta, Ridley 3-49, Hooper 2-33, Hall 2-27, Ortiz 2-19, Davis 2-13, Saubert 1-24, Gage 1-18, J.Graham 1-11, Hardy 1-7, Sanu 1-5, Magee 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.

This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 9:00 PM.