By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs remained one of two unbeaten teams in the NFL heading into their bye week after putting together a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Kansas City defense made an impact on the first drive of the game to help get the Chiefs the ball back, interrupting a six play drive with Bryan Cook intercepting the ball on a long pass attempt from Derek Carr as he looked for receiver Rashid Shaheed.
The Chiefs would get points off the turnover, putting together a long 10 play drive to get their lone touchdown of the first half as Kareem Hunt pounded his way into the endzone from three yards out, his first touchdown as a Chief since being released from the team in 2018.
Both teams would exchange punts over the next three drives, before the Chiefs would score again, putting together another 10 play drive but stalling at the New Orleans eight yard line, sending Harrison Butker out who would easily knock through a 26 yard field goal.
A defensive miscue on the ensuing drive would allow the Saints to get on the board for the first time, ending a seven play drive with a long 43 yard pass from Carr to Shaheed, in which the route Shaheed ran caused broken coverage from Cook, allowing the third year receiver to make a diving catch in the endzone.
Kansas City would continue the trend of putting together long drives on the next drive, this time using 15 plays, but again the offense would stall and have to send Butker out for another field goal, this time hitting from 34 yards away. After another Saints punt Butker would again get on the field, nailing it from 28 yards and giving Kansas City a 16-7 lead at the halftime break.
Coming out of halftime the Chiefs would get the ball to start the second half, putting together a 10 play drive, but for the first time in the game and just second time on the season, Butker would miss a field goal attempt from 51 yards.
Kansas City would have another chance to score, after forcing the Saints to punt on the drive following the missed field goal, getting all the way down to the New Orleans two yard line, but a pass from Mahomes would hit off the chest of JuJu Smith-Schuster and bounce into the hands of a former Chief, Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who would take the ball 35 yards to the Saints 37 yard line.
The interception would be turned into points by New Orleans, needing eight plays before Carr would find tight end Foster Moreau, who was starting in place of the injured Taysom Hill, for a six yard touchdown pass. Kicker Blake Grupe would miss the extra point, but the Saints remained just one score away from a lead.
But the Chiefs would extend their lead on the following drive, putting together their shortest scoring drive of the game needing just five plays, ending it with a rushing score from rookie Xavier Worthy on a play that started with a direct snap to Travis Kelce, Worthy taking the ball three yards to the house for the score.
A turnover on downs by the Saints would give the Chiefs the ball back, and after 11 plays Butker would knock through his fourth field goal of the game from 38 yards. The next New Orleans drive again ended with a turnover on downs again, this time being led by backup quarterback Jake Haener after Carr was forced out of the game with injury, before the Chiefs would kneel out the remaining clock.
Mahomes was 28 of 39 through the air for 331 yards throwing the one interception. It was a big day for two players that recently returned to the Chiefs as Hunt led all rushers with 27 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown, while Smith Schuster led receivers with seven catches for 130 yards.
The Chiefs will now get a much needed week of rest having an early bye week in Week six. They return to action on October 20th, taking on the team they beat in Super Bowl 58 on the road in the San Fransisco 49ers. Kickoff will be at 3:25 with pregame at 2pm on Q Country 92.7 and on KFEQ, unless the Royals have a playoff game.