Mahomes-to-Hill connection leads Chiefs over Buccaneers
Patrick Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three touchdowns to outplay
Tom Brady and lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 27-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Tyreek Hill scored on receptions of 75, 44 and 20 yards, backflipping into the end zone on his second TD, and finishing with 13 catches for 269 yards — the last an 8-yard catch on thirdand-7 to give Mahomes an opportunity to run out the clock.
The Chiefs (10-1) won their sixth consecutive game and clinched their seventh 10-win season in eight years under coach Andy Reid.
The reigning Super Bowl champions improved to 6-0 on the road and have won nine straight away from home going back to last year.
Brady was 27 of 41 for 345 yards, three touchdowns and a pair of secondhalf interceptions in falling to 2-2 in four career meetings against Mahomes, who built an early 17-0 lead and also had the Chiefs up by 17 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bucs made it close, with Brady throwing TD passes of 31 and 7 yards to Mike Evans, the latter trimming Tampa Bay’s deficit to 27-24 with 4:10 remaining.
The Bucs never got the ball back.
The Chiefs led 20-7 at halftime, with Hill having seven catches for 203 yards in the first quarter alone. The Bucs were fortunate they weren’t in a bigger hole at the break.
Kansas City ran 42 plays to Tampa Bay’s 22 in the first two quarters. Three drives inside the Bucs 20, however, only netted a pair of short field goals. Shaquil Barrett sacked Mahomes, forcing a fumble that William Gholston recovered at the 14 with the Chiefs looking to build on a 17-0 lead.
Bashaud Breeland and Tyrann Mathieu had Kansas City’s interceptions off Brady. The Chiefs hurt themselves with a pair of roughing the passer penalties on the 10-play, 73-yard drive the six-time Super Bowl champion put together to close the gap to three points.
THIS AND THAT
The Chiefs beat Tampa
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Bay for the first time since Sept. 5, 1993, when Joe Montana led Kansas City to a 27-3 victory. The Bucs had won five straight in a series the Chiefs lead 8-5.
Chiefs receiver Sammy
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Watkins returned after being sidelined since Week 5 with a hamstring injury. He had four receptions for 38 yards.