St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes was probably having flashbacks Sunday night to his days at Texas Tech, when he would scramble around like a kid playing sandlot football while routinely throwing the ball 60-plus times in a game.
The Chiefs needed all of it — every run, every throw, every yard — to rally past the Tennessee Titans.
Mahomes finished 43 of 68 for 446 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for the tying score and 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, before Harrison Butker atoned for two earlier misses by drilling the go-ahead field goal in overtime and lifting the Chiefs to the 20-17 victory.
“I did not know I threw that many,” Mahomes said with a smile, “but yeah, Texas Tech, I threw a couple, so I'm able to do it.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid improved to 21-3 coming off a bye by beating a franchise that has long been his nemesis. He was just 2-9 against the Titans — heck, Reid has three wins against the Chiefs — including a 27-3 loss in Nashville last year.
It was only the second win for Kansas City (6-2) in its last seven games against the Titans.
“You have to be able to win a game like that," Reid said, “where everything isn't just perfect, and your emotions are up and down and you have to fight through. We were so close on so many plays. Step up and let's go.”
Things were spiraling toward another disappointment the way Derrick Henry was chewing up yardage against the Kansas City defense, and the way the Titans (5-3) were shutting down Mahomes and Co. into the fourth quarter.
Indeed, the Chiefs were trailing 17-9 and time was running out when they took over at their own 7-yard line. But in vintage Mahomes fashion, he willed his team downfield. His 20-yard scramble on third-and-17 kept the drive going, and his third-and-9 touchdown scramble along with his 2-point conversion run knotted the game with 2:56 to go.
After the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss, the Titans nearly stopped them, only for Noah Gray to make a nifty third-down catch. Then, Mahomes hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on fourth down to keep the drive alive — and the clock moving.
Butker drilled his 28-yarder to give Kansas City the lead with 4:04 left in overtime.
The Chiefs proceeded to stuff Henry, then sacked Titans rookie Malik Willis on back-to-back plays, before batting down his fourth-down throw to end the game and send fireworks flying into the sky above Arrowhead Stadium.
“When you get to those end of the game situations,” Mahomes said, “you have to try to go out there and make it happen.”
Henry finished with 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Titans. But he didn't get a whole lot of help from Willis, who got his second start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill, and was just 5 of 16 for 80 yards.
The Chiefs figured the best way to shut down Henry, who had run for 219 yards and two touchdowns last week against Houston, was to keep him off the field. They opened the game with a 15-play march that took up 8 1/2 minutes and ended in a field goal, then forced a punt and went 79 yards with Mahomes finding Hardman for the touchdown.
All told, the Chiefs held the ball nearly 13 of the 15 minutes in the first quarter.
“It was a struggle,” Reid said. “We were up and down and the guys hung together.”
The Chiefs stay home to host Jacksonville this Sunday at noon. The game will be carried on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3) and Q Country 92.7 FM in St. Joseph.