Chiefs edge Bucs in overtime to remain unbeaten

05.11.2024 07:52

DailyNews.com

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drove down the field in the final minute of regulation, and Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass that put the visitors within a 2-point conversion of ending Kansas City’s perfect start to the season.

Bucs coach Todd Bowles admitted to giving “very minor” thought to going for two before kicking the extra point that sent the game to overtime.

“I’m glad he didn’t,” Reid said with a smile.

That’s because the Chiefs won the ensuing coin toss, and Patrick Mahomes capped a big day – 291 yards passing and three touchdowns on a gimpy ankle – by going 5 for 5 on the only drive of overtime. Kareem Hunt finished it off, along with his 106-yard rushing performance, by plunging into the end zone from 2 yards out to give Kansas City a 30-24 victory on Monday night.

“Everybody had a piece of this,” Reid said.

DeAndre Hopkins had eight catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with Taylor Swift watching from a suite. And a defense missing a couple of key players to injuries held Mayfield to 200 yards passing and two touchdowns, and shut down a Tampa Bay running game that managed just 95 yards.

The result was familiar: The Chiefs won their 14th consecutive game dating to last season, the longest streak since Carolina started 14-0 in 2014, and they became just the sixth Super Bowl champ to start 8-0 the following season. They also have won their last eight games when trailing in the second half, including the postseason.

The Buccaneers had their chance when Mayfield hit Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 left in regulation. But rather than go for the win, Bowles decided to kick the extra point – and Bucs ended up losing for the fourth time in five games.

“We’ve got guys who are not going to quit fighting to the end,” Tampa Bay wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. “I’m really proud of the group and the way everybody fought. We’ve just got to clean up some little stuff. And that’s what this league is all about.”

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up taking a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and Mt. San Antonio College to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead – and the end zone. He punctuated his 7-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football all the way into the second deck.

“I can’t even count right now,” White said, when asked how many friends and family were watching from those stands.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Tennessee Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes at that point, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain that put the Chiefs inside the Tampa Bay 5-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first touchdown with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

“That’s one of my favorite movies,” he said. “I knew if I got in the end zone I was going to remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a touchdown pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter, though. Mahomes marched them through the driving rain 70 yards for the tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ 5 to give Kansas City the lead.

Mahomes said later the ankle injury scared him more than hurt him. He was checked in the sideline tent but was quickly back to throwing balls in an effort to stay loose, and he never gave Reid an opportunity to pull him from the game.

“You feel the pain and that scares you,” Mahomes said, “because I’ve dealt with ankles before. But I just kind of laid there and as time went on the pain subsided. I just kind of got to it, and got moving again and felt comfortable going out there.”

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out after Kansas City took the lead, but its defense got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down the field. His capped the drive with a touchdown toss to Miller – his first career TD catch – with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

It wound up being a decision the Buccaneers would regret.