The reigning Super Bowl champions, Kansas City Chiefs defeated shorthanded New England Patriots last night, 26-10. They are now 4-0 since the start, and one of the few teams in league with such a record.
Also, this is the fourth straight season in which they open the campaign with four triumphs. Overall, the Chiefs now have 13 consecutive victories when counting the previous campaign and the playoffs.
But this one came much harder than anyone expected. The Pats were without their starting QB Cam Newton, starting RB, Sony Michel, and they arrived at KC shortly before the kick-off. With two reserve quarterbacks who made many mistakes, they resisted pretty well until the late phase of the game.
With 13-10 for the hosts, Patrick Mahomes threw his second TD pass of the game, to Mecole Hardman for six yards, and less than 10 seconds of play after that, Tyrann Mathieu picked Jarrett Stidham for a 25-yard return, which that solved the game eventually.
Interestingly, Stidham, who replaced Bryan Hoyer due to poor performance, had another intercepted pass on the very next drive. When we add that his teammate who was benched previously also had one pick, along with a turnover, you can see why Pats lost.
Overall, their defense was superb, stopping arguably the best attack in the league on multiple occasions, and not allowing the Chiefs to have a TD until the third period.
Hoyer had 130 yards and an interception, while Stidham posted 60 with a touchdown pass and two picks. Damien Harris used Michel’s absence to generate 100 yards on 17 carries; Rex Burkhead had 45 on 11. Damiere Byrd caught 5 passes for 80 yards. The only TD was after N’Keal Harry’sreception.
Mahomes didn’t have his usual numbers, but he still managed to record two TD tosses. The 2018 MVP posted 236 passing yards and rushed for 28. Tyreek Hill and Hardman were his targets for scoring. Hill had 64 yards through the air, Sammy Watkins 43, and Travis Kelce 70.
Up next, the Chiefs meet Raiders at home, and after that, travel to Buffalo to face the undefeated Bills and Josh Allen.
As for the Pats, they have two games at home coming up. At first, they meet the injury-crippled Denver Broncos, and after that, the San Francisco 49ers, who are in a similar position. Belichick’s boys need to win both to stay in the playoff race.