Chiefs remain one of two unbeaten teams in NFL with win over Saints
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Kansas City Chiefs remained one of the two undefeated teams in the league with a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.
In KC's first game without star wide receiver Rashee Rice, following a knee injury, the offense saw some highs and lows. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 71 percent of his passes for 331 yards. But, he also continued his interception streak, as he threw one to former Chief Khalen Saunders on Monday night. Mahomes has thrown a pick in every game in 2024, tying for second-most in the league with five total.
Mahomes' go-to guy, early on, was tight end Travis Kelce. After weeks of media and fans questioning his slow start to the season, he's posted back-to-back big outings for Kansas City. On Monday night, he caught a team-high nine passes for 70 yards.
In fact, on the first offensive drive of the game, Mahomes went threw five passes. Four of those passes went to a tight end. Three of those passes went to Travis Kelce, as the Chiefs put together a 10-play, 78-yard drive which ended in a touchdown from running back Kareem Hunt to make it 7-0 in the first quarter. Hunt finished out the day with 102 yards on 27 carries and that one touchdown.
However, the star of the passing game actually turned out to be wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. After re-signing with the Chiefs on Aug. 26, he put up his first 100-yard effort the season. Smith-Schuster ended up with 130 yards on seven receptions. His longest reception of the night was a 50-yarder.
On the other side, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and company managed to shut down the New Orleans ground game, on Monday night. The Saints, a team that normally runs the ball about 50 percent of the time, was limited to just 46 yards of total rushing offense.
As a result, the Saints were forced to go to the air. Although quarterback Derek Carr has struggled to find his rhythm this season, he did throw two touchdowns. One of those scores came in the fourth quarter, when he connected with Foster Moreau to make it three-point ball game.
Still up 16-13, the Kansas City offense manufactured a much-needed response, after being held scoreless the entire second half. Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy ran in a touchdown with a 12 minutes left in the game to put KC up 23-13.
The Chiefs join the Minnesota Vikings as the only two undefeated teams left in the NFL.
Up next - Kansas City will hit the road for a Super Bowl LVIII rematch with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3:25 p.m.
