By MATT PIKE
In what many Kansas City Chiefs players were calling a must win game, the entire Kansas City team stepped up to beat the Detroit Lions 30-17 on Sunday Night Football.
The Lions though, started the game with a huge advantage, consuming most of the clock in the first quarter and driving down the field in a 15 play drive. The drive first ended with a touchdown pass from running back David Montgomery to quarterback Jared Goff, but after discussion that was called back on illegal motion. After the penalty, Detroit settled for a 28 yard field goal from Jake Bates for a 3-0 lead.
Kansas City answered the field goal with an eight play drive, getting stopped at first on third down in the redzone at the Detroit six yard line. But on 4th and 3, the Chiefs went for it, and Patrick Mahomes found wide receiver Xavier Worthy on a shovel pass for the second year receivers first touchdown of the season. Harrison Butker though missed the extra point, and Kansas City would be up just 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The touchdown pass to Worthy was a special one for Mahomes. The touchdown marked the 300th of his career, making him the fastest quarterback to reach the mark. Mahomes says it's cool to hit such a milestone in his career
"I've been blessed, I always say it and I mean it, I got drafted here in Kansas City, a great community, great ownership, and then getting one of the best football coaches of all time and some of the greatest players of all time around me," Mahomes says during his post game press conference at the podium. "And so makes my job a lot easier when I'm able to throw to some great ones and let's continue it, let's have some fun and we've got a long career ahead, let's see how many we can get to."
Mahomes reached 300 touchdowns in 130 games. The next closest was Dan Marino who it took 147 games to hit the mark.
A six play drive by Detroit on the ensuing drive ended the first quarter, before the Lions scored in the early part of the second as Goff connected with Jameson Williams on a 22 yard touchdown pass. After the touchdown, both teams turned the ball over on downs on back-to-back drives, before Kansas City answered near the end of the first half.
With 2:42 remaining in the half, the Chiefs used just over two minutes of clock over eight plays, driving all the way down to the goal line where Mahomes used his legs this time to rush the ball in from one yard out to give Kansas City the lead back. This time Butker converted his extra point attempt, and the Chiefs ended up taking a 13-10 lead to the halftime break.
Getting the ball to open the second half, Kansas City wasted no time extending their lead. An eight play drive ended with another touchdown, as for the second time this season, and the second time in his Chiefs career, Hollywood Brown found the endzone on a nine yard pass from Mahomes. Both teams exchanged punts, ending the third quarter with Kansas City up 20-10.
The Lions weren't giving up easily to start the fourth quarter, after Kansas City punted them the ball, using up the end of the third quarter during an eight play drive, and scoring at the beginning of the final frame on a four yard touchdown pass from Goff to tight end Sam LaPorta for their final score.
On the ensuing drive, the Chiefs would extend the lead again to two scores, driving nine plays this time. Mahomes ending the drive by finding Brown again for a touchdown, this time on a three yard touchdown pass. And after forcing the Lions to punt, Kansas City scored their final points with a field goal, Butker knocking it through from 33 yards out to seal the game.
The offense again put together a good run and pass combination to move down the field. Wide receiver Xavier Worthy says there's only one way things can go
"I mean we're only going to get better as an offense," Worthy tells reporters in the locker room after the game. "You get four (Rashee Rice) back next week, so it's going to be good getting him back in the offense and getting him going."
Worthy says he's excited to finally have Rashee Rice back on the field next week against the Las Vegas Raiders as he is eligible to return from suspension
"I mean shoot, finally get to see all the big three that you all wanted to see, so looking forward to it," Worthy says.
Stepping up in the game, less than 24 hours after the birth of his third child and spending the night in the hospital, was left tackle Jaylon Moore in the absence of rookie Josh Simmons.
Moore says he gets enough reps with the first team offense during practice though that even on short notice, he was ready to go
"I feel like the biggest thing is mental reps," Moore explains. "I mean this is year five for me, so I've had a good amount of reps, so I'm not saying all of it is mental, but most of it is upstairs, and just making sure I'm being intentional with my work during the week."
Simmons missed the game due to a personal matter and was ruled out just hours before kickoff.
Mahomes passed for 257 yards going 22-for-30 through the air with three touchdowns, adding 10 carries for 32 yards and a score. Isiah Pacheco rushed 12 times for 51 yards. Travis Kelce had six catches for 78 yards while Brown had four catches for 45 yards and two scores. JuJu Smith-Schuster added three catches for 57 yards.
Kansas City is now 3-3 on the season, still sitting third in the AFC West after wins by the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos earlier in the day. The Chiefs next host the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff on Sunday is at noon. Pregame will air at 11am on both KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM) and Q Country (92.7 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.