Mahomes overcomes early interceptions to lead Chiefs to victory over Commanders | NFL
Patrick Mahomes threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, Kareem Hunt found the end zone twice and the Kansas City Chiefs recorded a 28-7 victory over the Washington Commanders on Monday night.
Mahomes was nearly perfect after throwing two early interceptions, one of which was hardly his fault. His touchdown pass to Travis Kelce was the 83rd of the tight end’s career, tying him with Priest Holmes for the Chiefs record. Another went to Rashee Rice, who caught nine passes for 93 yards in his second game back from a six-game NFL suspension.
It all helped the Chiefs (5-3) win for the fourth time in five games and extend their streak of dominance over Washington. They have won nine in a row in the series and 11 of 12 overall; the only defeat dates back to September 1983.
Marcus Mariota totaled 213 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Commanders (3-5), who fell to 1-4 on the road this season. Mariota started in place of Jayden Daniels, who injured his hamstring in last week’s loss to Dallas.
Terry McLaurin returned from a quad injury to catch three passes for 54 yards and the Commanders’ only touchdown of the night. Deebo Samuel also returned from a bruised heel, but after two early catches, he only managed one more the rest of the game.
Most of the first half featured poor execution from both offenses.
The Commanders’ opening series ended when Mariota’s pass bounced to Samuel for an interception. The Chiefs ended when Mahomes was also eliminated. Kansas City stopped Washington on fourth down, only for Mahomes to bounce a pass off Kelce’s hands for his second interception — which the Commanders failed to capitalize on again when Mariota overthrew everyone on fourth-and-one deep in Kansas City territory.
Up until this point, the Commanders had had two picks, which had created three turnovers all season; two thrown by Mahomes, who had only thrown two before; and two failed fourth-down conversions by a Washington offense desperate for points.
In total, five empty disks.
Then, two very productive ones: Kansas City marched 72 yards for a touchdown, and the Commanders responded with a 66-yard drive that McLaurin finished with a TD reception that was initially ruled incomplete but was overturned upon review.
Then, the Chiefs pulled away from their opponents in the second half. They opened with a methodical 80-yard drive that Hunt finished with his second touchdown. Then, after a quick Washington punt, Kelce, 36, capped a 75-yard drive with his record-tying touchdown.
The decisive blow came midway through the fourth quarter, a 13-play, 94-yard drive by the Chiefs — 119 yards if you include all the penalties they had to overcome — that finally broke the Commanders. Rice finished with an 18-yard touchdown run after passing twice just before scoring earlier in the game.
That’s five straight games in which Kansas City has scored at least 28 points and put this one out of reach.
