The Kansas City Chiefs shook off a messy opening stretch and turned Sunday into a runaway, rolling past the New York Jets 35-12 at Arrowhead.
It didn’t start clean. Kansas City’s first quarter was bogged down by penalties and fumbles, and the early tone was more survival mode than statement game.
The Jets struck first with a 64-yard march, but the Chiefs tightened up in the red zone and forced Jason Sanders into a 23-yard field goal for a 3-0 deficit. New York added another field goal after a fumble on a quarterback sneak by backup QB Justin Fields, and Sanders made it 6-0.
Kansas City answered in the second quarter, and once the offense found a rhythm, it started landing punches. Patrick Mahomes connected with running back Kenneth Walker III twice for touchdowns, first on a seven-yard score and then on a 25-yard strike. The Jets kept hanging around with two more field goals, trimming the gap to 14-12.
Then came the moment that had the Chiefs holding their breath. Before halftime, Mahomes took a hit while throwing and hurt his elbow.
Medical personnel checked him out, and he was grimacing on the throws that followed. He spent the rest of the game getting worked on intermittently on the sideline.
Even with that scare hanging over the afternoon, Kansas City took over after the break. The Chiefs scored three straight touchdowns to blow the game open. Travis Kelce finished a 1-yard lateral toss that was later ruled a running play, Walker added his third touchdown of the day on a two-yard run late in the third quarter, and Emmett Johnson closed it out with a six-yard score in the fourth.
The difference in the second half was the Chiefs’ pass rush, which finally started making life miserable for Geno Smith. Kansas City sacked him five times for 42 yards, with defensive tackle Chris Jones getting two of them. That pressure helped force the Jets into their own sloppy stretch in a game that also featured multiple sideline outbursts.
The Chiefs moved to 6-2 with the win, but the bigger storyline may be Mahomes’ elbow. Kansas City also lost receiver Xavier Worthy in the second half on what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
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What stood out in Ninkovichs argument was the emphasis on what Gronkowski brought as a blocker, a part of the position that often gets overshadowed when the conversation centers on receiving production. Kelce has built his own Hall of Fame case as one of the NFLs most productive pass catchers, and he has publicly praised Gronkowski before, but this latest round adds another voice to a debate that still has plenty of life left in it. [Read more 🡒]
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Taylor Swifts Arrowhead Return Came With One Chiefs Twist Fans Noticed
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Karlie Kloss also joined Swift for the game, adding an unexpected extra layer to the scene in the stands. On the field, the evening carried its own concern when Patrick Mahomes took an arm hit during play, though he stayed in the game and kept going without missing time, leaving Chiefs fans to monitor both the box score and the bigger picture at once. [Read more 🡒]