The Kansas City Chiefs met their fair share of adversity during a Monday night clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Super Bowl champions overcame rainy conditions, an injury scare for their MVP quarterback and a feisty Buccaneers team to earn a 30-24 overtime victory and improve to a perfect 8-0 on the season.
The back-to-back NFL champions got off to a sloppy start in a rain-soaked Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs trailed 17-10 after three quarters, but come-from-behind wins are nothing new for this bunch.
In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes flipped a nifty seven-yard pass to running back Samaje Perine to tie the game. But the celebration turned to panic in Chiefs Kingdom when Mahomes went down awkwardly on the play with an apparently non-contact injury.
Mahomes was pinned to the turf with his left ankle and eventually had to be helped off the field by team trainers. But a few minutes later, he stepped out of the medical tent and ran back and forth along the Chiefs sideline, drawing a roar of approval from the home crowd.
Mahomes wouldn’t miss a beat and joined later DeAndre Hopkins for the wide receiver’s second touchdown of the game, giving the Chiefs a 24-17 lead.
Mahomes finished the game 34 of 44 passing for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
“I was kind of committed to running the football, but at the last second I saw Samaje and rolled the ankle a little bit awkwardly,” Mahomes said after the game, describing the injury.
“Absolutely scary. I think it hurt more because it was the same ankle I twisted last week. So it scared me a bit, but once I caught my breath and calmed down a bit, it wasn’t too bad in the end.
The Bucs, plagued by their own score recent injurieswouldn’t go quietly into the rainy night in Kansas City, however. In the two-minute offense, quarterback Baker Mayfield led a brilliant 71-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard scoring pass to Ryan Miller.
Tampa Bay elected to kick the extra point to tie the game at 24 instead of attempting a two-point conversion to take the lead, and the game went to overtime.
Mayfield and Mahomes met at midfield for the overtime coin toss, where Mayfield called tails, but the coin came up heads, sealing the Buccaneers’ fate.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt embrace after a hard-fought game. -Ed Zurga/AP
Just as he has done countless times before, Mahomes calmly orchestrated a game-winning drive. The two-time NFL MVP led the Chiefs 70 yards down the field, culminating in a 2-yard touchdown plunge from running back Kareem Hunt to set up the final score.
In addition to extending their perfect start as the only remaining undefeated team in the league to 8-0, the Chiefs have more reason to be optimistic after Monday’s win.
After a slow start to the season, All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce turned in his second straight big game. Kelce had a career-high of 14 receptions for 100 yards in the regular season that night, with his global megastar girlfriend Taylor Swift on hand to cheer him on.
The Chiefs will look to extend their undefeated start to the season in Week 10 against division rival Denver Broncos. The Buccaneers return home where they hope to snap a three-game losing streak against the San Francisco 49ers.
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