What we learned as Chiefs’ absorbed Saints’ best punch and still walked away winners
If the Chiefs are to meet the Saints again, it will have to be in Super Bowl LV.
And if there’s a next time, the Saints will be looking for revenge after the Chiefs secured a 32-29 win in a highly anticipated game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Sunday’s showdown, which featured two superstar quarterback in Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees, lived up to its hype as a potential Super Bowl showdown. And the outcome was in doubt until late in the fourth quarter.
“The bottom line is we won the football game against a good football team,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Sean (Payton) does a heck of a job here.”
The Chiefs squandered a 14-0 first-quarter lead and had to withstand a 15-0 run by the Saints before holding on to improve to 13-1 with two games remaining.
And they put up 32 points on a Saints defense that entered the game allowing just 20.4 points per game, fourth-fewest in the league.
There were moments when it wasn’t pretty, for sure, but Reid appreciated how his team hung tough when the Saints made it a game in the second half.
“When you’re playing one of the top defenses in the league, offensively, you got to bear down,” Reid said. “Everything is not going to be pretty, and so you got to stay with it, trust each other and go. I thought we did nice there.”
Kansas City’s win was its 11th straight on the road, which extended a franchise record, and the team’s ninth straight since a Week 5 loss.
Sunday also marked the Chiefs’ fourth 13-win season in club history and the first since 2003.
Here’s what stood out Sunday.
MAHOMES MAGIC
The Saints has their two starting safeties — Marcus Williams and Malcolm Jenkins — play deep, often more than 10 yards off the line of scrimmage, to take away the deep ball.
That seemed to be just fine for Mahomes, who found spots underneath to do some damage.
Mahomes made a host of jaw-dropping throws, including one where he avoided a sack, scrambled to his right, made a juke move on Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan to buy time, then stepped up to fire a 23-yard pass to wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
“Sammy was probably my last read and I got flushed out,” Mahomes said. “I was running out to the right, thought I’d get the edge, realized I wasn’t going to be able to get there. And then I stopped, stepped up and Sammy kept working and I was able to get him the ball.”
The Chiefs quarterback then made another incredible play in the third quarter after the Saints took a 15-14 lead. Mahomes marched the Chiefs down the field to the Saints’ 5-yard line on the ensuing possession.
On second and goal, Mahomes rolled to his left and appeared to be throwing the ball away. But he spotted wide receiver Mecole Hardman streaking across the back end of the end zone before lofting a pass to the back corner. Hardman secured the ball and dragged his feet for the touchdown, the third scoring pass from Mahomes at that point in the game.
The Chiefs and Mahomes showed some savvy, too. On the play after Jordan was ejected for throwing a punch at Andrew Wylie, Mahomes ran an option right at Jordan’s replacement before pitching to Le’Veon Bell, who ran virtually untouched for a 12-yard score.
Mahomes fcompleted 26 of 47 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, adding 37 yards rushing on seven carries. His touchdown passes went to Hardman, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce.
With three passing touchdowns in the game, Mahomes now has 21 career games with three or more passing scores, tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner for the second-most most games with three-plus touchdown passes in a player’s first four seasons in NFL history.
OFFENSIVE LINE SHUFFLE
Mahomes had a good game statistically, but he took a pounding.
The Chiefs had stayed mum on how they would handle the right tackle position with Mike Remmers out due to back and neck injuries.
Conventional wisdom suggested the team would turn to rookie Yasir Durant, who filled in for Remmers in Week 14. But right guard Wylie opened the game at right tackle, while Stefen Wisniewski, who was elevated Saturday from the practice squad, started at right guard.
The shuffled offensive line had their issues early on, to say the least.
In the first half alone, the Saints harassed Mahomes with 13 hurries, three sacks and six quarterback hits. Left tackle Eric Fisher, who was dealing with a back injury and missed two practices the past week, started and had issues with right defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who recorded a sack and four quarterback hits in the first half alone.
Kansas City’s front five appeared to settle down in the second half, but still gave up four sacks and 11 quarterback hits in the game.
“We scored points against a good defensive front,” Reid said of the offensive line’s play. “I mean, you’re talking about one of the best defensive fronts, if not the best, right there.
“So, statistically, I thought we ran the ball efficiently, especially in the second half, and we threw the ball well with the exception of a couple of blitzes they had. They got us with one at the end there, but we were pretty clean, for the most part.”
Mahomes agreed.
“They battled,” Mahomes said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I thought they fought the entire game — they got better as the game went on.”
As long as Remmers and Mitchell Schwartz, who is on injured reserve with his own back injury, are out, the Chiefs are likely to stick with Wylie at right tackle and Wisniewski at right guard.
DEFENSE DOES ENOUGH
There’s no doubt Brees was rusty to start the game, misfiring on his first five passes. The future Hall of Famer was coming off injured reserve with rib and lung injuries, after all.
The Chiefs’ defense, however, deserves credit for making life difficult for Brees and the Saints’ high-powered offense despite the final score.
New Orleans converted a miserable one of 11 third-down attempts and the Chiefs had a sack and six quarterback hits.
The Chiefs also held the Saints’ running attack, which entered the game averaging 137.3 yards, to just 60 yards on 17 attempts. Saints running back Alvin Kamara, a do-it-all weapon, totaled 94 yards (54 rushing) and a touchdown.
Brees completed 15 of 34 passes for 234 yards and three touchdown with an interception (by Chiefs rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who also recorded the Chiefs’ sack).
SPECIAL TEAMS GAFFE
Chiefs wide receiver Demarcus Robinson made a play to forget in the waning moments of the second quarter.
Robinson filled in at punt returner and fielded a punt at the Chiefs’ 6-yard line with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first half. He then proceeded to go to his right, but instead of running in a straight line he was going backward.
A host of Saints special teams defenders swarmed him and one of the players knocked the ball out Robinson’s arms, sending it into the end zone. Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone had a shot to recover the loose ball for a touchdown, but the ball squirted out from under him and out the back end of the end zone for a safety.
The safety cut the Chiefs’ lead to 14-9 heading into halftime and Robinson’s error luckily cost the Chiefs just two points.
“Special teams, with the exception of D-Rob’s fumble, I thought we did some good things,” Reid said. “I mean, he had some good snaps on the offensive side. He probably shouldn’t have handled that one right there with 10 seconds left.”
On offense, Robinson finished the game with two catches for 27 yards on three targets.
NOTABLES
Hill recorded his with his 15th touchdown reception in the first quarter to tie Dwayne Bowe’s franchise record, which was set in 2010. Hill now has 17 total TDs this season (15 receiving, two rushing).
On the first-quarter scoring play, the Chiefs got creative by sending Hill in motion from the left to the right. Then he cut back in motion to the left before pivoting at the snap quickly to his left then to his right. The misdirection movement gave Hill time to get open for a 5-yard scoring pass from Mahomes.
Hill finished the game with six catches for 53 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets.
INJURIES
Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helarire suffered a hip and left leg injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. He couldn’t place any pressure on the leg while being helped to the locker room and finished the contest with 79 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Reid said X-rays were negative and the team would continue evaluating the injury.
“He got stretched,” Reid explained. “His leg is sore. Both legs are kind of sore.”
Bell, who totaled 76 yards (62 rushing) and a touchdown, said he talked to Edwards-Helaire after the game.
“He’s in good spirits,” Bell said.
Linebacker Emmanuel Smith suffered a hamstring injury and didn’t finish the game.
UP NEXT
The Chiefs return to Arrowhead Stadium in Week 16 to host the Atlanta Falcons.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 7:24 PM.
