Rodgers, Jones fuel Pack victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Aaron Rodgers threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Aaron Jones, and the Packers held off Matt Moore and the Chiefs 31-24 on Sunday night.
Jones, who briefly left with a shoulder injury, had seven catches for 159 yards — including a goahead 67-yard touchdown reception from Rodgers midway through the fourth quarter — and added 67 on the ground. A big chunk of his rushing yards came in the closing minutes, when the Packers (7-1) sealed their first victory at Arrowhead Stadium since Nov. 4, 2007.
‘‘I totally trust our quarterback,’’ Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. ‘‘And I trust Aaron Jones as a receiver. He made some great plays all night long.’’
With reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes out with a dislocated kneecap, Moore took the reins of the Chiefs’ high-powered offense and fared quite well. He threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in his first NFL start in more than two years.
The Chiefs (5-3) hoped Mahomes could make a miraculous recovery 10 days after hurting his knee Oct. 17 in Denver. But after he was limited in practice throughout the week, coach Andy Reid said Friday he would be inactive for the game.
The game started with Rodgers and the Packers marching for two quick touchdowns. But after a shaky start by Moore, he and the Chiefs found a groove. They embarked on an 89-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown to Travis Kelce, then got a 30-yard touchdown catch from Mecole
Hardman to tie the score.
The Chiefs led 17-14 at halftime, but LaFleur made a couple of adjustments, and Rodgers and Co. began to move the ball once more. They used a 15-play drive to get a tying field goal in the third quarter, then got the ball back when LeSean McCoy fumbled on the next play.
Five plays later, Rodgers conjured up more of his magic. On third down from the Chiefs’ 3, he dropped back and was flushed from the pocket. He rolled to his right and threw a blind pass to the back corner of the end zone, where running back Jamaal Williams somehow took the ball away from Chiefs linebacker Ben Niemann while tapping both feet inbounds to give the Packers a 24-17 lead early in the fourth.
After the Chiefs tied the score on a three-yard run by Damien Williams, it took the Packers all of 56 seconds to score the winner. Rodgers found Jones out of the backfield, and this time he found a lane through the entire Chiefs secondary. It was a foot race from there, and Jones hop-skipped over the goal line to finish off the 67-yard touchdown reception.