Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, Hunt
scores TD in overtime as Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24
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[November 05, 2024]
By DAVE SKRETTA
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched as the
Buccaneers drove down the field in the final minute of regulation,
and Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass that put Tampa Bay 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 2 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 TDs. 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 straight 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 seconds to go. 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'd 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 a California junior 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 Titans.
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Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (8) celebrates his
touchdown with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second
half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
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. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone,
and Hopkins celebrated his first TD 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 TD 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.
Injuries
Buccaneers: LB Yaya Diaby (chest) briefly left the game. CB Josh
Hayes (calf) dealt with cramps in the second half.
Chiefs: WR Mecole Hardman (shoulder) and DE George Karlaftis (hip)
were hurt but returned to the game.
Up next
Tampa Bay hosts San Francisco on Sunday.
Kansas City hosts Denver on Sunday.
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