By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs survived an intense battle with the Cincinnati Bengals in the latest chapter of what's become a big rivalry in the AFC, winning 26-25 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday evening.
Both the Chiefs and Bengals would swap field goals to open the scoring in the first quarter, using a lot of time to do so as the Bengals ran a 10 play drive in just under five minutes, while the Chiefs consumed over eight minutes of clock to go 16 plays.
Following the Chiefs field goal, the Bengals would be forced into a punt, and on the very first play of the Chiefs drive would get the ball back on an interception over the middle as Patrick Mahomes attempted to find Travis Kelce, but instead threw the ball directly to linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither.
The interception would be turned into a touchdown, the Bengals going seven plays and 31 yards, opening up the second quarter with a touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to wide receiver Andrei Iosivas for a four yard touchdown pass.
Kansas City would have an answer though to tie up the game as Mahomes would deliver a dot right into the arms of wide receiver Rashee Rice, a 44 yard touchdown pass, the longest reception of Rice's career.
The Bengals would take the lead back on their next drive, Evan McPherson knocking through a 33 yard field goal, and would force another turnover to get the ball back on the Chiefs next drive, forcing a fumble from rookie running back Carson Steele, turning that into another McPherson field goal, this time from 48 yards away. Cincinnati led 16-10 at the halftime break.
Kansas City would pull out some trickery to take the lead to start the second half, ending a 13 play drive with a passing touchdown from Mahomes to an unlikely source, offensive tackle Wanya Morris.
Morris says the team had cooked up the play during this past week of practice, and found out it was being called when he entered the huddle
"They told me they was going to call it, and I just thought ok don't be nervous, if the camera is on me I just have to make it look mad discreet, try not to give it away," Morris tells reporters in the locker room following the game.
Morris also had to come into the game in the second half at left tackle, after rookie Kingsley Suamataia struggled in the game. Morris says it's unknown if he'll be forced into a game, so no matter the situation, he stays prepared
"I just try to prepare the same way every week, same time, same day, everything's the same, can't change your preparation depending on the opponent," Morris says. "If you do that, you've lost already."
The Bengals would not go away however, scoring yet another touchdown as Burrow would again connect with Iosivas for a three yard touchdown. This time though, McPherson would miss his extra point, leaving Cincinnati with a 22-17 lead.
Mahomes, whose had a history of struggling against the Bengals, would throw his second interception on the next drive, an outstanding one handed grab from cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. Kansas City would get a takeaway of their own on the Cincinnati drive, Tershawn Warton and Mike Danna combining to sack Burrow who would fumble, safety Chamarri Conner scooping the ball up and taking it to the endzone for a touchdown.
The defensive touchdown would give the Chiefs the lead back, but the McPherson would convert another field goal for the Bengals to put them back on top once more, this time from even farther, a 53 yard field goal.
Kansas City would be forced to punt on their ensuing drive, and it appeared Cincinnati was in the drivers seat to a victory, but on third and six Conner would come up big again, this time sacking Burrow himself to force the Bengals into giving the ball back to the Chiefs.
Veteran safety Justin Reid says Conner was the spark that the team needed.
"Chamarri had a day, had the sack, had the touchdown, had the big play on special teams, flying all over the ball today, high energy guy, he was the spark we needed," Reid tells reporters. "We talked about somebody being a spark to get everyone started, Chamarri was the spark we needed today."
The Chiefs would get themselves into some danger though on the final drive, facing a fourth and six with 53 seconds left in regulation. Mahomes would look for his reliable target in Rice and would throw an incomplete pass, but the flags flew, and defensive back Geno Stone had made contact too early and was flagged for defensive pass interference, giving the Chiefs a fresh set of downs.
Kansas City would use just three more plays to wind the clock down to three seconds, before calling their second timeout and sending Harrison Butker out to kick the game winning field goal with three seconds left, a 51 yarder that he would knock through with ease.
The Chiefs have now started the season 2-0, winning back to back close games, the win against the Bengals coming one week after a narrow win against the Baltimore Ravens.
Linebacker Leo Chenal says the team has found themselves in these close games early, and joked with reporters following the game, that they should more often.
"Get the heart racing, just for fun I guess, I'm just kidding," Chenal says. "But you know with those teams, those playoff caliber teams especially the Bengals, it's always going to be a close game, I wish it wasn't so close, but you know at the end of the day a W is a W, so get your heart racing but it's a healthy bump so."
Next up Kansas City will turn their eyes to their first road game, after playing the first two in the comfort of Arrowhead Stadium, traveling to Atlanta, Georgia for a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football.