Chiefs 26-13 Saints (Oct. 7, 2024) Game Recap

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Patrick Mahomes threw for several yards. Travis Kelce caught a lot of his passes. And Kareem Hunt stormed into the end zone again, sending a stream of red fireworks across Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night.

It might as well have been six years ago when the Chiefs trio last played in a home game together.

But after injuries severely hampered their offense, the Chiefs were forced to rely on two of their starters and the return of their former star running back to beat the Saints 26-13. Mahomes finished the game with 331 yards through the air, Kelce had a game-high nine catches for 70 yards and Hunt ran 27 times for 102 yards and a touchdown.

“It was a great feeling to be in the end zone again. I missed it a lot,” said Hunt, who returned to the Chiefs just a few weeks ago after an injury to starter Isiah Pacheco. “That’s why I vomited a heart. To show my love for Kansas City.”

There was a lot of love at Arrowhead Stadium.

Just as the Chiefs moved to 5-0 behind another defensive gem, the Royals defeated the Yankees in Game 2 of their AL Division Series in New York. There were frequent cries of “Let’s go Royals!” Throughout the game, and as the Royals cruised to a 4-2 victory and sent the series back to Kansas City tied at one game apiece, a roar rang out through Arrowhead.

“There was a bit of a lull towards the end of the game and I thought, 'They're not showing the score.' “The Yankees have come back,” said Mahomes, who owns part of the Royals. “But they did it and got the win and it was extremely exciting.”

The Chiefs held Saints quarterback Derek Carr to 185 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception before he left with an oblique injury. It happened with about 9 1/2 minutes left when Carr was hit by lightning-quick defensive back Chamarri Conner as he tried to rally New Orleans from a 23-13 deficit when he failed to complete fourth down.

“I couldn’t do what I needed to do in the simplest form,” said Carr, who is scheduled for an MRI scan on Tuesday.

The Saints' Alvin Kamara managed 26 rushing yards on 11 carries, becoming the latest high-profile running back to struggle against the Chiefs. In last week's win over the Chargers, they held the Ravens' Derrick Henry to 46 yards, the Bengals' Zack Moss to 34, Falcons star Bijan Robinson to 31 and JK Dobbins to 32 yards.

“We were outplayed,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “We really couldn’t get much going on either side of the ball.”

Monday night's first half had a little bit of everything: Hunt's first touchdown since returning to Kansas City, where his once-promising career was derailed by an off-field incident; a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Rashid Shaheed, the shortest of the three Shaheed caught this season; and yet another lateral from Kelce, which came on the most bizarre rides.

The Chiefs were leading 10-7 when a fumbled pitch and a holding penalty left them facing 2nd-and-34. They got some of it back with a pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, and then Mahomes hit Kelce over the middle. Kelce passed laterally to Samaje Perine, who came within a yard of a first down, and Kansas City converted on fourth-and-short to eventually score a field goal.

But that's exactly what kept New Orleans in the game – field goals. The Chiefs have struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone all season, surrendering three chip throws to Harrison Butker to take a 16-7 lead at halftime.

Their red zone troubles continued into the third quarter. On second-and-goal, a pass from Smith-Schuster at the goal line bounced off his hands and landed in the arms of 324-pound former Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who made his first career interception.

The Saints promptly marched 65 yards, with Foster Moreau's TD catch bringing them within 16-13 with 14:16 to play.

But unlike every other Chiefs game that was decided in the final minutes – if not the final play – they responded to the blow by delivering a blow of their own. Smith-Schuster threw a 50-yard pass soon after, and Xavier Worthy took first-and-goal at the 3 for a touchdown that gave them a lead early in the fourth quarter.

After stopping the Saints on fourth down, the Chiefs scored another field goal with 3:03 left to seal the game.

“It’s pretty cool to get the band back together,” said Smith-Schuster, who is also back with the Chiefs after a few years in New England. “Man, I'm telling you, there's no place like this.” What we have here is special.

Tay Tay returns

Taylor Swift was back at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Kelce and the Chiefs after missing her boyfriend's last two away games. She continues her record-breaking Eras tour Friday night with the first of three shows in Miami.

Injuries

Saints: CB Will Harris injured his hamstring in the first half. C Lucas Patrick was briefly sidelined in the third quarter with a collarbone injury.

Chiefs: LT Wanya Morris left the first half with a lower leg injury but returned to the game.

Next

New Orleans hosts Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Kansas City has a week off before visiting San Francisco on October 20th.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL