Inside: Star quarterback Mahomes leads Chiefs to opening win over Browns.
KANSAS CITY, MO. >> Patrick Mahomes threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns while running for another score, and the Kansas City Chiefs came back from a dismal first half against the Cleveland Browns for a 33-29 victory Sunday in a rematch of their divisional playoff game from January.
Tyreek Hill caught 11 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown, and Travis Kelce hauled in a pair of TD catches, including the go-ahead score with 7:02 remaining as the Chiefs finished off their rally from a 22-10 halftime deficit.
The Chiefs won their fifth straight against Cleveland, including their 22-17 playoff victory, and their 15th consecutive game in September. They also pushed Andy Reid within one win of reaching 100 with two franchises.
As for the Browns? They fell to 1-21 in season openers since returning to Cleveland in 1999, extending their NFL mark to 17 consecutive defeats. They haven’t won an opener on the road since the 1994 season.
Baker Mayfield threw for 321 yards, but he was picked off by Chiefs cornerback Mike Hughes with 1:09 left to end any hope of a comeback. Nick Chubb ran for 83 yards and two scores while Kareem Hunt and Jarvis Landry also had TD runs.
The game was a rematch of a physical, defensive-minded playoff game that Kansas City clinched when backup quarterback Chad Henne threw a fourth-down pass to Tyreek Hill for a first down with just over a minute to go.
There wasn’t a whole lot of defense Sunday.
The Browns twice converted fourth downs in the Chiefs’ red zone to keep firsthalf scoring drives alive. Chubb ended the first with his first TD run, and Jarvis Landry scored on fourth down on the second, before Chubb tacked on an 18-yard run through a gaping hole in the rebuilt Chiefs defensive line to make it 22-10 at halftime.
The Chiefs finally found some offensive balance in the second half, riding Clyde Edwards-Helaire down the field before Mahomes hit Kelce for a touchdown. That capped a drive that took up half the third quarter and, most importantly for the lackluster Kansas City defense, kept Mayfield and the rest of the Browns offense off the field.
The Chiefs nearly ground out the rest of the quarter by turning Chubb’s fumble into Harrison Butker’s second field goal.
When the Browns weren’t beating themselves, the Chiefs weren’t doing a whole lot to stop them. Kevin Stefanski’s bunch immediately responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive — their fourth scoring drive at least that long — that former Chiefs running back Hunt finished off to make it 29-20 with 10:24 to go.
But the Browns weren’t done beating themselves, either.
First, they blew coverage on Hill near midfield, and he merely had to cradle a pop-up pass from Mahomes and take off for a 75-yard touchdown reception. Then, after the Chiefs finally forced a threeand-out, Browns punter Jamie Gillan inexplicably dropped the snap and the AFC champs took possession at the Cleveland 15.
Mahomes hit Kelce three plays later to give Kansas City a 33-29 lead, its first of the game.