Patrick Mahomes finished 29 of 48 passing for 275 yards, a touchdown and an interception as the Kansas City Chiefs hobbled to victory over the New York Giants to move to 4-4 on the year.
Tuesday 2 November 2021 10:47, UK
Harrison Butker's field goal with 1.12 to play was enough to see the Kansas City Chiefs grind out a 20-17 victory over the New York Giants after another shaky performance from quarterback Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead on Monday night.
The Chiefs weathered 12 penalties for 103 yards and two more turnovers that lifted their league-high tally to 19 as they avoided an upset after the Giants had led 17-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes escaped a potentially disastrous interception with 4.29 remaining when Darnay Holmes' pick was scratched off due to an offside penalty against Oshane Ximines, paving the way for Butker's eventual game-winner.
Daniel Jones finished 22 of 32 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Giants, while Mahomes went 29 of 48 passing for 275 yards, a touchdown and his 10 interception of the season.
A wild opening to the contest had seen Mahomes and Jones trade interceptions inside the space of three plays before the Chiefs turned their pick deep in Giants territory into an opening touchdown from Tyreek Hill.
Mahomes still looked shy of his usual magic and was guilty of happy feet at times, while the pass rush-lacking Giants also baffled with their inability to involve Kadarius Toney.
New York hit back through Kyles Rudolph's first touchdown for the franchise since arriving in free agency, after which Derrick Gore capped some joy on the ground with a rushing touchdown to put the Chiefs back on top at 14-7 in the second quarter.
The Chiefs were punished for another turnover when Travis Kelce's fumble was converted into Evan Engram's go-ahead touchdown for a 17-14 Giants lead at the beginning of the fourth, but the visitors proceeded to stall on all both sides of the ball as two Butker field goals helped Kansas City scrape over the line.
It will go down as a missed opportunity for the Giants, who had successfully joined in with the trend of consistent two-deep coverages designed to limit the chunk-play threat of both Hill and Kelce, the latter of whom was restricted to just four catches for 27 yards on the day.
Giants
Chiefs
A near flawless opening 13-play 70-yard drive came up short for the Chiefs when Mahomes' jump-pass on third-and-goal bounced up off the helmet of Jerick McKinnon and into the hands of safety Julian Love. It marked Mahomes' 10th interception on the year and extended his streak to at least one pick in seven straight games.
Jones was then picked off on the second play of the ensuing drive, misreading linebacker Willie Gay Jr, who swept in for an easy steal on a pass intended for Darius Slayton before returning it back to the Giants' 13. From there Mahomes made amends, scurrying up through the pocket and bypassing a wide-open Kelce before eventually firing to Hill at the back of the end zone.
The Giants finally tested the waters against a porous Chiefs secondary as John Ross out-wrestled Daniel Sorensen to haul in a 50-yard pass from Jones on third-and-11, from which Toney connected with Sterling Shepard for another 19 on a trick-play pass before Rudolph was eventually on the receiving end of a one-yard touchdown as the visitors converted on fourth-and-goal to issue a much-needed response.
Gore restored Kansas City's advantage with a three-yard rushing score to ice an 11-play 68-yard drive that had finished with five successive runs from the 2019 undrafted free agent.
The Giants squandered their chance to reply when Shepard managed just two-yards on third-and-four from the Chiefs seven following Devontae Booker's 41-yard catch-and-run, Graham Gano instead coming out to kick a 23-yard field goal to cut the hosts' lead to 14-10.
Having been shut down for most of the game, Kelce was finally involved by an eight-yard pass from Mahomes, only for the tight end to fumble under contact from Logan Ryan with James Bradberry on hand to recover at the Giants' 43 with 3:36 to play in the third.
The Giants took advantage courtesy of a five-yard touchdown pass to Engram after a superb release and break from the tight end to create space for himself on the out in the red zone. It capped an eight-play 57 yard drive notably helped by two Chris Jones penalties.
A Trent Harris strip-sack on third-and-nine from the Giants' 12 forced the Chiefs to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Butker on the next drive - for which Jason Garrett's offense could provide no reward.
It was then Butker who settled things with a 34-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining following Mecole Hardman's 24-yard jet-sweep burst on the back of Holmes' interception being nullified by a sloppy penalty against Ximines.
Next up for the Chiefs is a clash at home to the Green Bay Packers, while the Giants are due to host the Las Vegas Raiders.
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