Daily Press

Butker’s late FGs rally Chiefs

After hitting 54-yarder to tie game, he wins it on last play with 44-yarder

- By Dave Skretta Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Harrison Butker watched his 44-yard field goal split the uprights, the clocks inside Arrowhead Stadium reading zero, and the Chiefs kicker turned and sprinted the other way in celebratio­n.

The first person to join him? Patrick Mahomes.

The reigning league MVP, who missed his second straight game while recovering from a dislocated kneecap, looked just fine as he joined Butker and the rest of his Chiefs teammates in a mid“I field mob after their heart-stopping 26-23 victory over the Vikings on Sunday.

“I was sprinting down, maybe just from my soccer background growing up — that’s what you do when you score,” said Butker, who thought the winner may have been tipped. “When I was going I saw Patrick, and I wanted to embrace him and I’m like, ‘Nah, he can’t get hurt.’ ”

Matt Moore started in Mahomes’ place and threw for 275 yards and a TD, and he made the crucial plays when they mattered. He hit favorite target Tyreek Hill to convert a key third down and set up Butker’s career best-tying 54-yard field goal to knot the game, then found Hill again a couple minutes later to make the winner a little more manageable.

thought, Matt, that was a gutsy performanc­e,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team snapped a three-game skid at Arrowhead Stadium. “He took a couple of licks and got back up and finished. But him calming the storm I thought was good.”

Hill finished with six catches for 140 yards for the Chiefs (6-3), including a spectacula­r TD grab, while Damien Williams ran for 125 yards — most of it on a 91-yard touchdown run.

Kirk Cousins threw for 220 yards and three TDs for the Vikings (6-3), though he struggled to deal with the Chiefs’ blitzes late in the game.

Dalvin Cook was held to only 71 yards rushing, while top wide receiver Stefon Diggs had a single catch for four yards.

 ?? JILL TOYOSHIBA/KANSAS CITY STAR ?? Harrison Butker (7) celebrates with his Chiefs teammates after hitting the game-winning field goal Sunday.
JILL TOYOSHIBA/KANSAS CITY STAR Harrison Butker (7) celebrates with his Chiefs teammates after hitting the game-winning field goal Sunday.

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