The left stuff
Mahomes hits Broncos with both hands
CHIEFS 27 BRONCOS 23
DENVER — A suddenly ambidextrous Patrick Mahomes rallied the unbeaten Chiefs back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 27-23 victory over the Broncos on Monday night.
Thanks in part to a left-handed throw from the right-handed Mahomes in the final minutes as he was about to get sacked on third-and-5 at midfield, the Chiefs (4-0) took a twogame lead over the Broncos (2-2) in the AFC West with their sixth straight win over their rivals.
Down 23-13, Mahomes directed a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate up more than six minutes and culminated with a 2-yard TD toss to tight end Travis Kelce, then added a 60-yard touchdown drive, handing off to Kareem Hunt for the 4-yard score with 1:39 remaining.
On that last drive, Mahomes was getting dragged down by Von Miller when he shifted the ball to his left hand and threw it to Tyreek Hill for a first down.
“I didn’t know he threw it with his left hand,” Miller said. “He’s a great quarterback.”
“Patrick worked real hard on that left-handed throw,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid cracked. “Some amazing plays there. We’ve seen it in practice but not under those conditions.”
It was the first time since 2004 that the Broncos blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at home.
In between Kansas City’s scoring drives, the Broncos, who had run roughshod over the Chiefs all night — a 7.2-yard average per run — suddenly abandoned their ground game in favor of three-wide receiver sets that resulted in a quick threeand-out that sent Denver’s exhausted defenders right back out.
“We ran the ball to control the game,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said, “but you throw the ball to score.”