Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs end up on winning side of second-half shootout in Oakland
That Chiefs offensive machine that had been the envy of most fan bases in the NFL didn’t have the same unstoppable feel early on against a seemingly inferior opponent Sunday. Whether it was the absence of Kareem Hunt and Sammy Watkins or just the Oakland Raiders rising to the occasion against their longtime rivals on their home turf, the Chiefs were out of sync.
Despite the loss of two starters and the off-field turmoil of the previous two days, the Chiefs were able to lean on second-year phenom quarterback Patrick Mahomes and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce to pave the way to a 40-33 win at Oakland Coliseum. The Chiefs improved to 10-2 and remained in the driver’s seat in the chase for the AFC’s top seed.
The Chiefs’ fifth 40-point performance of the year tied a single-season franchise record, matching the 2003 Chiefs.
“I don’t want to get away or anything to distract from how tough a place this is to play, my locker room leadership overcoming the situation that we had there — which can be a distraction,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, referencing Kareem Hunt’s release Friday after a video revealed he had kicked and shoved a woman in February.
“We handled it the right way and stepped up today in a place that we haven’t always come out with this kind of result. So I’m proud of the guys in the locker room and the coaches.”
Mahomes passed for 295 yards and four touchdowns, and he completed 23 of 38 passes without an interception. The Raiders successfully took one of Mahomes best traits, his ability to be decisive and get the ball to his playmakers quickly in space.
However, Mahomes scrambled when necessary in order to create the time for the offense to find a rhythm.
“They have a lot of talent guys, first off, on that team,” said Mahomes, who became the 13th NFL passer with a 40-touchdown season. “They were doing a good job of putting a lot of guys in coverage, really layering guys like Tyreek (Hill) and the fast guys. So other guys stepped up and made plays.
“Once I kind of settled myself down — I felt like I was kind of trying to do too much at the beginning of the game — and just kind of took what they gave like we’ve been doing all season long, guys made a lot of plays.”
It certainly didn’t hurt that Kelce posted his biggest game of the season with 12 catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He also surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the third consecutive season and logged his fifth 100-yard receiving game this year.
“(Kelce) and Patrick had something going today that was special and did a real nice job with that,” Reid said.
Even with the Mahomes-Kelce connection thriving, the Chiefs certainly had reason to sweat when Mahomes’ pass bounced off the hands of Tyreek Hill and fell to the turf on third down in the third quarter. When Hill dropped that pass, the Chiefs’ juggernaut offense had gone three-and-out, giving the Raiders the ball down by 10.
The Raiders scored 26 second-half points, and scored on all but one of their possessions after halftime. Just before the Chiefs’ three-and-out, the Raiders notched their second touchdown drive of the game.
The empty possession by the Chiefs offense put the Raiders in a golden position to pull within one score. Well, it did until defensive back Kendall Fuller jarred the ball loose from Raiders running back Jalen Richard at the end of a dynamic 17-yard run into Chiefs territory. Richard fumbled and Daniel Sorensen quickly hopped on the ball.
“(I) really was just running to the ball,” Fuller said. “I think that first touchdown drive, I kind of told them guys that’s on me. I gave up two passes, had the penalty that got them on the 1. So I just was running around and trying to make a play. All the guys, especially up front, were running around and recovering fumbles and things like that. When you hustle, when you run to the ball, good things happen.”
After the fumble, Mahomes led the Chiefs on a seven-play, 52-yard touchdown drive. He went 3 of 6 passing on the drive with the most important play coming on a 28-yard pass to Kelce in which it initially looked as though he scored. Upon review, Kelce was touched down at the 13.
The Chiefs punted on their first possession of the fourth quarter, but were able to take a deep breath when Mahomes hit Chris Conley near the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score with 1:57 remaining to boost the lead back to 10 points.
“Tyreek went straight to the flat and naturally the defense just flowed to him and I was wide open,” Conley said. “It wasn’t really that hard. Laser of a ball from Pat.”
The Raiders added a field goal with 34 seconds remaining, but the Chiefs recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
This story was originally published December 2, 2018 at 6:38 PM.