Chiefs rally after falling behind Titans, beat Tennessee in overtime: Let’s review

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is well known for his golden arm.

But against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday Night Football at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Mahomes showed he can carry the Chiefs with his legs, too.

Late in the fourth quarter and facing a third-and-17, Mahomes scampered for a 20-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Seven plays later, Mahomes used his skills as a runner to get the Chiefs in the end zone on a 14-yard dash, then converted the 2-point attempt on a 1-yard run.

The Chiefs quarterback single-handedly tied the game at 17-17 to force the extra period, and then turned it over to kicker Harrison Butker, who drilled a 28-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a 20-17 win.

“We were just battling at the end of the game,” Mahomes said. “We were just trying to find a way to win and our defense kept us in the game allowing us to do that.”

Sunday night’s victory didn’t come easy for the Chiefs, and they needed every bit of Mahomes’ late-game and overtime heroics.

Without quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the Titans turned to Malik Willis for the second straight game. The Chiefs held Willis in check, limiting the rookie to 80 yards passing, but struggled against the Titans’ true superstar.

Running back Derrick Henry, the reigning AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October, gave the Chiefs all they could handle. Henry, who entered the game averaging 140.8 yards rushing over the past four games, pounded out 115 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

The Chiefs jumped out to an early 9-0 lead behind Mahomes, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 139 yards in the first quarter. Mahomes found paydirt early in the second quarter when he connected with wide receiver Mecole Hardman for a 7-yard score. Butker missed the extra point, so it was 9-0.

The Titans didn’t flinch. Playing from behind, they went to their workhorse.

Henry put his team on his back and powered his way through the Chiefs’ defense to the tune of 92 yards, including a 56-yard gallop, and two touchdowns on nine carries in the first half.

Both of Henry’s touchdown runs were from inside the Chiefs’ 5-yard line, with the first coming on a direct snap from the 4-yard line and the second from the 1. The Titans led 14-9 at halftime.

The Chiefs ended the first half with three straight punts after producing a field goal and touchdown on the first two possessions.

In the third quarter, the Titans recorded an interception off Mahomes when tight end Travis Kelce bobbled a pass that cornerback Roger McCreary secured. The Titans extended their lead four plays later to 17-9 on Randy Bullock’s 44-yard field goal.

Kansas City’s defense then stood up and shut down the Titans the rest of the way while the offense struggled. First, the normally reliable Butker missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt, and then the Chiefs punted on two straight possessions before Mahomes’ legs took over.

In between that, the Chiefs defense limited the Titans to just one first down and 38 total yards.

“Our main focus was getting these guys in passing situations, getting them to throw the ball, play to our strengths as a defense,” said Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, who split a sack with Carlos Dunalp. “Once we were able to do that, we were able to get after the quarterback a little.”

Mahomes finished with 63 yards rushing and a touchdown on six carries. His passing numbers swelled as the Chiefs favored the pass over the run overall — he was 43 of a career-high 68 for 446 yards, one touchdown and one interception (80.9 passer rating). He was sacked four times.

“We weren’t getting too far with the run game, so we thought we needed to throw it a little bit,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I’ve seen him do that in college a few times.”

But it was Mahomes’ legs on the game-tying drive that left an impression on his blockers.

“It’s just incredible to see and block for,” right tackle Andrew Wylie said. “The stuff that guy does never ceases to amaze me.”

Center Creed Humphrey agreed.

“Patrick is a playmaker, so it’s always fun to see him make plays like that,” Humphrey said. “He’s so talented, so dynamic, too, and so creative. It was really impressive to see.”

Kelce led the Chiefs in receiving with 10 catches for 106 yards on 17 targets — his 32nd 100-yard game, tying him with the recently retired Rob Gronkowski for the most 100-yard games ever for an NFL tight end.

While the game was far from pretty, the Chiefs will take the hard-fought victory.

“You’ve got to be able to win a game like that, where everything just isn’t perfect and your emotions are up and down,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “You got to fight through that, persevere through that and people will rally.”

Sunday night’s win, on a day the Buffalo Bills lost to the Jets to fall to 6-2, improved the Chiefs’ record to 6-2.

Here’s what else stood out Sunday night:

FRONT FIVE STRUGGLES

The well-rested Chiefs offensive line — the team was coming off a bye week — had massive leaks in protection.

Tennessee’s pass rush harassed Mahomes throughout the game from the edges and interior, recording four sacks and eight quarterback hits.

Reid, though, felt his offensive line held their own against a tough Titans defensive line.

“I thought they did a good job, for the most part,” Reid said. “That defensive front is something. That’s a special group.”

Titans outside linebacker Denico Autry led the attack with two sacks and three quarterback hits.

TONEY TIME

The Chiefs didn’t take long to work in wide receiver Kadarius Toney.

On the first offensive play of the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked to his right and connected with Toney for a 2-yard gain. Toney, acquired via trade from the Giants during the bye week, would add another catch in the first half for 10 yards.

The Chiefs didn’t appear to have Toney fully involved in their offense, though, as he finished the game with two catches for 12 yards on just those two targets.

But the Chiefs see good things on the horizon as Toney continues to absorb the offensive scheme.

“I think he did a good job,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, we couldn’t throw too much at him. But whenever he was in the game, he was playing hard, he was getting open. We gave him a couple of option routes, you saw he got open there. As he gets more and more accustomed with the offense, we’ll keep adding him here and there and make our offense even better.”

HARDMAN’S NOSE FOR END ZONE

Hardman’s 7-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter gives him four touchdowns over the past two games, the most productive two-game stretch of his career in that regard.

The fourth-year wideout, who’s playing out the final year of his rookie contract, finished with six catches for 79 yards and the touchdown on nine targets.

NO MOORE

The Chiefs went a different route at punt returner against the Titans.

Instead of rookie wide receiver Skyy Moore, who has two muffed punts this season, the Chiefs utilized Hardman and Justin Watston in that role.

Watson totaled 17 yards on his return, while Hardman injected energy into the return game with 42 yards on four attempts. Neither player put the ball on the ground, a plus given Moore’s issues with fielding punts cleanly.

Even though Moore didn’t return punts, the Chiefs remain supportive of the rookie.

“He’ll be all right,” Reid said.

INJURIES

Rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson left the game late in the second quarter and received attention for what Reid described as having “dirt in his eye.” Watson returned after halftime.

Reid said that safety Deon Bush, who was observed receiving attention in the blue medical tent, “tweaked his left knee a little bit.” Bush returned and finished the game.

NOT SUITED UP

Tight end Jody Fortson (quad), running back Ronald Jones, quarterback Shane Buechele, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, rookie offensive lineman Darian Kinnard and rookie defensive back Nazeeh Johnson did not play.

UP NEXT

The Chiefs stay home in Week 10 to play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday at noon.