The Kansas City Chiefs will be going into their bye week with an 8-1 record after narrowly escaping the Carolina Panthers by overcoming a 14-3 deficit to come away with a 33-31 victory.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected on 30-of-45 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns. Mahomes shattered another record on Sunday, becoming the fastest player in NFL history to record 100 career touchdown passes, doing so in just 40 games which crushes Dan Marino’s record of 44 games.
On the other sideline, Panthers signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater had a bounce-back game from last week, completing 36-of-49 passes for 310 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
However, the main headline for Carolina was the return of all-pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who did not miss a step in his first game back injury. The four-year star from Stanford rushed for 69 yards on 18 attempts and a rushing touchdown and also made an impact in the passing game, catching 10 balls for 82 yards and a passing touchdown.
Carolina scored touchdowns on their first two drives to start the first half, finding Christian McCaffrey in the flat on fourth-and-three for the walk-in score on their opening drive and later going up by two scores after Bridgewater found Curtis Samuel for the 14-touchdown.
The first two offensive drives by the Panthers took up 12 minutes and 52 seconds, affording Mahomes to have the ball in his hands only once in the first quarter.
Mid-way in the second quarter, down 14-6, Patrick Mahomes set the tone to start the drive by delivering a beautiful 23-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce had another big day, 10 catches for 109 yards, as he continues to chase Otis Taylor for the second-most receiving yards in Chiefs franchise history.
Four plays later, on the Carolina 15-yard line, Mahomes connects with receiver Tyreek Hill for the 14-yard completion as he gets pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line. One play later, Mahomes rolls to his right and finds Demarcus Robinson in the back of the endzone for the one-yard score to cut Carolina’s lead down to one point.
However, thanks to some aggressive play-calling, the Panthers offense was able to get the better of Kansas City defense enough to get into field goal range for kicker Joey Slye to drive in a 47-yard field goal to put the Panthers ahead 17-13 at halftime.
Kansas City and Carolina each suffered missed field goals to start the third quarter. After Joey Slye’s 51-yard field attempt bounced off the left upright, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense got the ball back on their own 33-yard line.
On third-and-seven from their own 41, Mahomes attempted a deep pass for Travis Kelce, who completed the 44-yard catch and gave the Chiefs offense a whole new set of downs on Carolina’s 12-yard line. Two plays later, Mahomes scrambles to his right and throws a short pass to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who strolls into the end zone to give Kansas City a 20-17 lead.
On Carolina’s next offensive possession, Kansas City’s defense stepped up, allowing only a yard in six plays and forcing the Panthers to punt.
On the sixth play of the final possession of the third quarter, Patrick Mahomes completes a third-down conversion by finding Tyreek Hill for the 26-yard completion. During the play, cornerback Donte Jackson was called for defensive holding, which extended the play to the Carolina 28-yard line.
On the next play, Mahomes dropped back and slings a pass for Tyreek Hill, who makes the catch in the end zone for the 28-yard touchdown, and pulls the Chiefs ahead 26-17.
Carolina and Kansas City both trade scoring drives to start the fourth quarter. First, Teddy Bridgewater leads the Panthers offense, 70 yards in nine plays, before calling his own number and scrambles into the endzone for the 4-yard score to cut the deficit down to two points.
On the following drive, Kansas City responds by going 32 yards in seven plays, as Patrick Mahomes finds Tyreek Hill for the two-yard score to go up 33-24. However, the Panthers to fire right back by taking a methodical 11-play, 75-yard, drive that is capped off by Christian McCaffrey, who charges his way up the middle into the endzone for the one-yard score that puts the Panthers within three points from taking the lead.
After forcing the Chiefs to punt late in the fourth, the Panthers had one last shot at knocking off the Super Bowl champs. While Bridgewater was able to get the panthers offense up to midfield, the Chiefs defense did a terrific job forcing them to attempt a long field goal.
On the final play of the game, Carolina sent out their field goal unit to attempt a ridiculous 67-yard field goal. As expected, Joey Slye’s kick was way off target as the wind hooked it to the right, sealing the win for Kansas City.
As the Chiefs advance to 8-1 on the season, they’ll roll into the bye week and get some much-needed rest and will hopefully get some of their injured players back in time for their road matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders in two weeks.
