The Kansas City Chiefs remain spotless, at least in the standings. Despite some stalled red-zone trips while hosting the New Orleans Saints on Monday night, the reigning Super Bowl champions closed Week 5 on an encouraging note, rediscovering some of their offensive groove in a game that saw Patrick Mahomes spread the ball to eight different receivers and dominate time of possession. Derek Carr and the Saints briefly threatened to pull close with some dazzling highlights of their own, but this cross-conference prime-time affair mostly belonged to the home team, which left with a 26-13 victory.
The Chiefs’ win, which pushes K.C. to 5-0 on the year, was punctuated by solid performances from a slew of Mahomes’ skill weapons, including Kareem Hunt (102 rushing yards), JuJu Smith-Schuster (7 catches, 130 yards) and Travis Kelce (9 catches, 70 yards). Steve Spagnuolo’s defense also came through when it mattered most, forcing an early pick of Carr and ultimately forcing the Saints’ quarterback to exit early with an oblique injury suffered on an all-out blitz in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans’ play of the night belonged to former Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who secured an end-zone interception of Mahomes after Paulson Adebo tipped a slant to Smith-Schuster, then raced his 324-pound frame for a big gain. The Saints struggled mightily on the ground, however, and surrendered 460 total yards by the end of the night.
Here are the takeaways from Monday’s showdown.
Why the Chiefs won
The final score didn’t show it, but the Chiefs dominated the game from start to finish. Kansas City had the ball for 39 minutes, 56 seconds and totaled 460 yards of offense in the victory, scoring on six of nine possessions (excluding kneeldowns). The only reason the game was close was because the Chiefs were 2 of 7 in the red zone, including an interception when Kansas City was looking to extend a 16-7 lead in the third quarter.
Kansas City’s defense also held New Orleans to 220 yards, including 46 on the ground. The Saints were held scoreless on seven of nine possessions and started out with just 112 yards in the first half. Getting 102 yards and a touchdown from Kareem Hunt in just his second game at running back was also massive from a Kansas City offense that needs help on the ground with Isiah Pacheco out.
Why the Saints lost
The Saints couldn’t get anything going on offense against the Chiefs defense. Outside of a 43-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Rashid Shaheed, the Saints generated just 3.1 yards per play in the first half. The Saints didn’t score on five of their first six possessions, punting four times and turning the ball over on the other.
The offense really struggled once Derek Carr left with an oblique injury, as Jake Haener went just 2 of 7 for 17 yards in his one series. Without Carr for an extended period of time, the Saints could be in real trouble.
Turning point
With the Chiefs leading, 16-13, early in the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes found JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 50-yard gain on second-and-6 to get Kansas City deep into the red zone. Smith-Schuster finished with 7 catches for 130 yards, as that 50-yard reception eclipsed his total from the first four games (17 yards).
The Chiefs scored three plays later on an Xavier Worthy rushing touchdown with Travis Kelce under center to take a 23-13 lead. The 50-yard catch by Smith-Schuster set up the score, which erased any doubt the Chiefs may lose this game.
Play of the game
Travis Kelce’s pitch to Samaje Perine on third-and-22 is the latest lateral that worked in a team’s favor this season. With the Chiefs up, 10-7, late in the second quarter, Mahomes threw a pass across the middle to Kelce — who ran to his left and pitched the ball to Perine.
Perine took the lateral 15 more yards to set up a fourth-and-1 at the Saints’ 23-yard line. Kareem Hunt got the first down on the next play to extend the drive — despite Kansas City once facing a second-and-34. That lateral set Kansas City up for a score to extend the lead, even if it was only a field goal.
Up next
The Chiefs enter their bye week with a 5-0 record, returning in Week 7 against the 49ers on Sunday, Oct. The Saints host the Buccaneers on Sunday, Oct. 13.
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