The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 7-1 on the season by handing the New York Jets their eighth consecutive loss at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Gang Green has struggled to find any amount of success in 2020 and fall to 0-8 on the year for the first time since 1996.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was at the forefront of the Chiefs’ offensive slaughtering of the Jets by completing 31-of-42 passes, for 416 yards and five touchdown passes. For context, Mahomes threw for more TDs on Sunday, than Jets QB Sam Darnold has thrown all season.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill played a huge part in Kansas City’s offensive assault this afternoon. Hill finished today’s game with four catches for 98 yards and a pair of scores. Tight end Travis Kelce also had a huge day, reeling in 8 receptions for 108 yards and a score.
On the other sideline, quarterback Sam Darnold connected on 18-of-30 throws for a pedestrian 133 yards. The Jets offensive unit came into today’s game as the worst in the NFL, and it showed against the Chiefs.
The Chiefs’ offensive assault began with Kansas City marching up the field, 90 yards, in seven plays, on their first drive to quickly jump out to a 7-0 lead.
Patrick Mahomes was perfect on the drive, connecting on all four of his passes, including a 13-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, a 15-yard pass to Demarcus Robinson, and an 18-yard pass to running back Le’Veon Bell. The drive was capped off on a jet sweep play to Mecole Hardman, who went the distance 30 yards for the ninth touchdown of his career.
New York responded by putting up three on the scoreboard, following a 39-yard field goal by Sergio Castillo to cap off a 12-play drive by the Jets offense.
Kansas City’s second offensive attempt was highlighted by Head Coach Andy Reid’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-four at the New York 49-yard line. The Chiefs were in their standard punting formation when punter Tommy Townsend took the direct snap and threw a perfect pass to Byron Pringle for a 13-yard gain and a first down. Patrick Mahomes did the rest on the very next play, slinging a 36-yard strike to Tyreek Hill in the end zone to go up 14-3.
New York was able to put up three more points before the start of the second quarter. Sergio Castillo booted a 55-yard field goal through the uprights to bring the Jets to within eight, 14-6.
After forcing the Chiefs to punt, New York went on a long 13-play drive that kept Mahomes and company on the bench for most of the quarter. Credit to the Chiefs defense, the Jets failed to reach the end zone and had to settle for a third consecutive field goal to decrease the deficit to just five points, 14-9, with under three minutes to go in the first half.
On first-and-ten, at their own 24-yard line, Mahomes drops back and throws a dime to Travis Kelce for a 15-yard play. After the pass was thrown, a roughing the passer penalty was called of Jets defensive end Folorunso Fatukasi to extend the play to a 30-yard gain in total for Kansas City.
Travis Kelce was the center of attention for the rest of the drive, catching two more passes from 23 and 18 yards before reeling in an underhanded pass from Mahomes for the three-yard score to go up 21-9 on the scoreboard. Kelce celebrated his 43rd career touchdown reception by paying tribute to the legendary Tony Gonzalez, dunking the ball over the goal post, and drawing the excessive celebration penalty.
As the first half was drawing to a close, the Jets moved up the field, 50 yards in six plays in hopes of pulling off a last-second field goal before halftime. As Castillo lined up to boot a 47-field goal attempt, safety Armani Watts sprinted off the edge and successfully blocked the kick. The ball was recovered by Mecole Hardman, who turned upfield 27 yards before being tackled on the Jets 30-yard line as the final play of the first half.
Late in the third quarter, the Chiefs found their way into the end zone once more, going 83 yards in six pass plays. Patrick Mahomes finshed the drive by finding Mecole Hardman deep down field for the 19-yard touchdown to extend Kansas City’s lead 28-9.
The Chiefs’ fifth and final touchdown of the day came early in the fourth quarter as Patrick Mahomes connected with Tyreek Hill on a 41-yard completion to the endzone to extend the lead 35-9. Following the score, Reid began to pull his starters to prevent potential injury for the remained of the game.
Now 7-1 on the season heading into November, the remaining opponents on Kansas City’s schedule combine for a .396 winning percentage, giving them the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL.
The Chiefs will host the 3-5 Carolina Panthers next Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
