During the week leading up to the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, many viewed it as a possible preview of Super Bowl LV. Following Kansas City’s 32-29 edging of the Saints, there surely won’t be many individuals who would be opposed to Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees squaring off again later this February.
Both teams went into this game not fully healthy. The Chiefs entered with a banged-up offensive line and New Orleans was without All-Pro wide receiver, Mike Thomas. But the headline was Drew Brees returning to the field for the first time in four weeks due to eleven broken ribs and a punctured lung.
However, the injuries entering this game only made things more interesting and even more of a toss-up. Although, instead of a total offensive shootout, both defenses were able to take their shots as well.
Mahomes’ streak of six straight 300-yard games came to an end on Sunday evening. The MVP candidate was held to 254 yards passing but still got off three TD passes against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
New Orleans’ pass rush got to Mahomes early and often during tonight’s matchup, registering 3 sacks and 11 QB hits.
On the other sideline, Saints QB Drew Brees completed only 44.2% of his throws for 234 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a pick. The performance of the Chiefs’ defense was a welcomed surprise during the game. The Chiefs held the Saints offense to just 285 yards of total offense.
Despite having All-Pro running back Alvin Kamar at their disposal, the Chiefs run defense held their ground and only surrendered a combined 60 yards on the ground. Kamara finished with 54 yards on 11 carries.
Rookie defensive back L’Jarius Sneed made a huge play in the first quarter, picking off Drew Brees to give Kansas City some early momentum. The pick was Sneed’s third of his rookie campaign, where he’s proven to be a nice pick-up for the Chiefs from this year’s draft.
The interception gave Kansas City’s offense a shorter field to work with, only 36 yards in order to reach the end zone. The first play of the drive was a handoff to running back Le’Veon Bell, who fumbled the football after a one-yard gain. The fumble was recovered by Travis Kelce, who ran 31 yards to the end zone for the score. However, officials ruled Bell was down by contact before the fumble occurred, which nullified the score.
Six plays later, the Chiefs get on the board first as Patrick Mahomes dropped back and found WR Tyreek Hill for the five-yard score to go up 7-0.
On the very next offensive possession for Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs offense on an 80-yard drive to the end zone, jumping out to a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter. The 11-play drive was capped off with a one-yard shovel pass to Travis Kelce for his tenth score of the season.
After Kansas City jumped out in front by two scores, New Orleans finally got on the board, mid-way in the second quarter, thanks to a 51-yard bomb from Drew Brees to receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who was tackled inside the 5-yard line by Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu. Two plays later, QB Taysom Hill took the direct snap into the end zone for a one-yard score.
After forcing New Orleans to punt late in the first half, disaster struck Kansas City on special teams. WR Demarcus Robinson was on the return, but instead of calling a fair-catch, he ran backward seven yards behind his own 13-yard line while trying to escape the Saints defenders and fumbled the ball.
The live ball rolled into the Chiefs’ endzone affording New Orleans a rare opportunity for a cheap score that would’ve tied the game. However, Saints defensive end Craig Robertson dove for the ball and pushed it out of the end zone for a two-point safety to close the first half.
New Orleans got the ball to begin the second half and quickly struck paydirt to take the lead. In four plays, Drew Brees led the Saints offense on a 51-yard drive that included a 25-yard reception by receiver Tre’Quan Smith that turned into a 40-yard play thanks to a roughing the passer penalty of defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Three plays later, Drew Brees floated a pass to running back Latavius Murray at the line of scrimmage. After making the grab, Murray sprinted 25-yards into the endzone to give New Orleans a 15-14 lead. Instead of kicking the PAT, the Saints attempted the 2-pt conversion in order to go up by three but Brees’ pass to Taysom Hill went incomplete.
In response to the Saints’ latest score, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs offense on a nine-play drive that included a 16-yard run by RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, followed by a 13-yard completion to Travis Kelce, and a 20-yard pass to WR Sammy Watkins. Kansas City went 75 yards up the field and finished with Mahomes scrambling to his left and fluttering a pass to the back corner of the end zone where only Mecole Hardman could make the catch for the touchdown, retaking the lead for Kansas City.
The Chiefs struck gold one again later in the third quarter. In 10 plays, the Chiefs traveled 46 yards to extend their lead to 29-15. The drive was capped off on an option play that sent Mahomes rushing to the right side of the field and lateraling the ball to RB Le’Veon Bell, who ran up the sideline for a 12-yard score. Kansas City also got a 2-pt conversion as Mahomes tossed another shovel pass to Travis Kelce, who bulldozed his way into the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, Mahomes was sacked by Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson for a 12-yard loss and fumbled at the Chiefs 25-yard line and was recovered by New Orleans. With the ball back, Drew Brees got a quick score for the Saints dumping the ball off to RB Alvin Kamara, who charged 14 yards into the end zone for the touchdown to bring the Saints back to within seven points.
With 9:45 left on the game clock, Kansas City took a methodical 10-play 71-yard drive that took up 5 minutes and 24 seconds. Although Kansas City made it inside the NO 5-yard line, they couldn’t punch their way into the end zone and set up kicker Harrison Butker to drive home a 22-yard field goal to put the Chiefs up by 10 points.
Down 32-22 with 4:18 left in the game, New Orleans quickly responded by driving its offense 75 yards in eight plays as Drew Brees dropped back to find his receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey for a 17-yard strike for the score.
Although the Saints were able to get back to within a field goal with two minutes still on the clock, New Orleans decided to rely on their defense to get the ball back. However, Mahomes was able to keep it long enough to run the clock out to win the game, 32-29.
Kansas City has won all eight of their road games in 2020 and advanced to 13-1 on the season for the first time in franchise history. This is also the first time since 2003 the Chiefs have won 13 regular-season games.
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