Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ otherworldly third-year quarterback, was the NFL’s MVP last season. Through the first quarter of this season, he’d been even more productive. He kept Kansas City’s fast-break offense rolling even without injured speedster Tyreek Hill. He had the Chiefs on a collision course with the New England Patriots, hurtling full speed toward a seemingly inevitable postseason clash for AFC supremacy.
That still might happen. Mahomes still has a very good chance to secure his second straight MVP award, and the Chiefs and Patriots still could square off in a second straight AFC title game come January. But on this Sunday night in early October, the Indianapolis Colts showed that Mahomes is not superhuman and the Chiefs indeed can be slowed.
The Colts gave a primer on how to beat Mahomes and the Chiefs. They controlled the clock with their running game and they used a rugged defense to leave Mahomes limping and the Kansas City offense crawling. The Colts knocked Mahomes’s Chiefs from the ranks of the NFL’s unbeaten with a 19-13 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
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“It means a lot,” Colts linebacker Justin Houston, the former Chiefs standout who made a triumphant return to Kansas City, told NBC after the game. “We know we can win. We know we’ve got a great team. In the losses we had, we beat ourselves. So we know if we come out here and play our game and do what we’re supposed to do, we can put ourselves in a position to win a game. I think we did that tonight.”
Indeed they did. Adam Vinatieri, the Hall of Fame-bound kicker whose struggles led to speculation earlier this season that he might retire, provided four field goals. Jacoby Brissett scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper. And the Colts limited Mahomes’s chances with a ball-control offense led by tailback Marlon Mack’s 132 rushing yards on 29 carries. Mack found plenty of running room while working behind the extremely talented Indianapolis offensive line.
“As a running back,” Mack told NBC, “that’s what you love to see.”
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The game was a rematch of the Chiefs’ playoff victory over the Colts in an AFC semifinal in January. That win allowed the Chiefs to advance to the AFC championship game they lost in overtime to the Patriots.
The Chiefs and Patriots have been the league’s two best teams in the early stages of this season. But the Chiefs’ loss Sunday night, which dropped them to 4-1, leaves the Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers as the NFL’s only undefeated teams.
When the NFL schedule-makers put this game on this season’s prime-time slate, it looked like an attractive matchup of Mahomes vs. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. But Luck retired abruptly before the season. Mahomes vs. Brissett does not move the needle as much. Even so, it’s well worth the time whenever you get a chance to watch Mahomes throw a football.
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Through the first four games of this season, Mahomes had thrown for 1,510 yards with 10 touchdown passes, no interceptions and a passer rating of 120.4. It was 113.8 last year in his 5,097-yard, 50-touchdown, 12-interception MVP season.
But Mahomes was sacked four times by the Colts and was left hobbling several times on a sore ankle. The Indianapolis defense did that even without all-pro linebacker Darius Leonard, who remained sidelined by a concussion, and two injured safeties.
“They found a way to get pressure and to cover long enough,” Mahomes said during his postgame news conference. “For us, I mean, Detroit did it last week. New England did it in the playoffs. We’re gonna have to beat man coverage, at the end of the day. We’ve got the guys to do it. So now it’s about going out and executing whenever teams present it to us.”
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Mahomes made a spectacular play to escape the Indianapolis pass rush and fire a first-half touchdown pass to wide receiver Byron Pringle. But he mostly was contained from there in a 22-for-39, 321-yard passing performance. The Chiefs trailed, 13-10, at halftime and were being shut out in the second half until a field goal by kicker Harrison Butker with 1:16 to play.
Jack Doyle, the tight end who absorbed the helmet-to-helmet hit by Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict a week earlier that led to the NFL suspending Burfict for the rest of the season, recovered an onside kick after Butker’s field goal and the Colts ran out the clock. They improved to 3-2.
“The win means a lot to me, coming back and to leave with a victory,” said Houston, who was released by the Chiefs in the offseason and celebrated his return with a sack of Mahomes and a fourth-down stop of running back Damien Williams. “I didn’t like the way things ended when I left here. So to come back and get a win, it means so much to me.”
In-game updates
4th Quarter
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Four FGs for Vinatieri: The Colts cashed in on the Chiefs’ failed fourth down with the fourth field goal of the game by kicker Adam Vinatieri, this one from 29 yards. (Colts 19, Chiefs 10 with 2:27 left in the 4th quarter)
Chiefs stopped on fourth down: Former Chiefs standout Justin Houston, now with the Colts, stopped Kansas City running back Damien Williams on a fourth-and-one run. The Colts take over at the Kansas City 33-yard line with a six-point lead. The Chiefs made the fourth-down attempt following a 27-yard completion by Patrick Mahomes on third and 28. (Colts 16, Chiefs 10 with 5:02 left in the 4th quarter)
Colts increase lead: Kicker Adam Vinatieri upped the Colts’ lead to 16-10 with his third field goal of the night, this time from 31 yards. The Colts kept the ball for 14 plays and took 8:34 off the clock but only moved 35 yards on their drive after taking over at the Kansas City 48-yard line following a Chiefs’ punt out of the end zone. The Colts converted a pair of fourth-and-one tries and overcame a failed instant replay challenge by Coach Frank Reich of a questionable offensive pass interference penalty. The Colts are controlling the game with their running game on offense and their rugged defense. Patrick Mahomes was limping after the Chiefs’ last possession. But he still has a chance to win the game for the Chiefs. (Colts 16, Chiefs 10 with 7:40 left in the 4th quarter)
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3rd Quarter
Mahomes interception overturned: A would-be interception thrown by Patrick Mahomes on a deflected pass was overturned by an instant replay review. It was very close, perhaps too close to result in a replay reversal. But the ball was ruled to have hit the ground before being deflected by Chiefs running back Anthony Sherman. That made the play an incompletion. But a personal foul on the Chiefs on the negated interception return was enforced, and they ended up punting. The Chiefs now have three punts and a lost fumble on their last four possessions, other than a one-play kneel-down just before halftime. (Colts 13, Chiefs 10 with 8:39 left in the 3rd quarter)
Halftime: Colts 13, Chiefs 10
Patrick Mahomes got off to a hot start for the Chiefs, throwing his usual assortment of sidearm passes with his trademark contortions of his body. He made a dazzling play to escape the Colts’ pass rush and throw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Byron Pringle in the opening minute of the second quarter. That came after the Chiefs’ drive was extended when a catch and fumble by tight end Travis Kelce was overturned via a replay review and called — correctly — an incompletion.
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But the Indianapolis defense settled down as the second quarter progressed, forcing two punts by the Chiefs and recovering a fumble by running back LeSean McCoy. Mahomes also could be seen limping after absorbing a hit by Colts defensive end Kemoko Turay. Mahomes had 208 first-half passing yards on 16-for-28 throwing accuracy. But the Colts have a 13-10 halftime lead.
Jacoby Brissett had a one-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper and kicker Adam Vinatieri connected on a pair of 32-yard field goals, the second of which came 10 seconds before halftime. Brissett threw an interception to Tyrann Mathieu but completed 12 of 19 first-half passes for 116 yards. Indianapolis ran the ball fairly effectively, with 77 rushing yards. (Colts 13, Chiefs 10 at halftime)
2nd Quarter
McCoy fumbles: The two offenses suddenly are squandered scoring opportunities with turnovers. Chiefs running back LeSean McCoy had a 21-yard gain on a screen pass from Patrick Mahomes but lost a fumble. (Colts 10, Chiefs 10 with 5:57 left in the 2nd quarter)
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Brissett throws interception: The Indianapolis defense forced a punt after three straight incompletions by Patrick Mahomes, and the Colts were driving toward a potential go-ahead touchdown or field goal. But on a second-down play from the Kansas City 22-yard line, Jacoby Brissett threw an interception to Tyrann Mathieu, who stepped in front of a pass headed toward tight end Eric Ebron along the sideline. (Colts 10, Chiefs 10 with 7:15 left in the 2nd quarter)
FG for Vinatieri: Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri has had his struggles this season, to the point that there was speculation he might retire at one point. But he’s still kicking and he connected on a 32-yard field goal to tie the game. The Colts’ field goal drive was aided by a 53-yard pass interference penalty called on the Chiefs. (Colts 10, Chiefs 10 with 11:12 left in the 2nd quarter)
Great TD pass by Mahomes: Patrick Mahomes is doing Patrick Mahomes things Sunday night in Kansas City. He just made a great play to deliver a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Byron Pringle. Mahomes turned to escape the Colts’ pass rush, running backward toward his own end zone. Then he spun and ended up running to his right, facing the Indianapolis end zone. He zipped a low throw to Pringle for the touchdown. And all of that was on a third-and-18 play. Mahomes has completed 13 of 17 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown so far in this game. The Chiefs’ touchdown drive was extended when a catch and fumble by tight end Travis Kelce was overturned via an instant replay review — correctly, it appeared — and called an incomplete pass. The NBC cameras caught Kelce having a disagreement with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on the Chiefs’ sideline, followed by the two sharing a hug. (Chiefs 10, Colts 7 with 14:08 left in the 2nd quarter)
1st Quarter
Kelce ‘fumble’ reversed: When the NFL tweaked the catch rule before last season, league leaders acknowledged there would be more plays with legal catches and fumbles. The Colts nearly had one of those with a catch and fumble by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, recovered and returned by Indianapolis. Officials allowed the play to continue on the field with an initial ruling of a legal catch by Kelce and a fumble. However, the on-field call was reversed on the automatic replay review that follows a turnover. It looked like the proper call on replay. Kelce had possession of the football and two feet on the ground but did not take a third step or make a football move as required by the new rule for a legal catch. (Colts 7, Chiefs 3 with 1:37 left in the 1st quarter)
Colts run over K.C. defense: The Colts held the Chiefs to a field goal on the game’s opening drive, then scored a touchdown on their first possession. Their 11-play drive included eight running plays, including a 30-yard dash by Marlon Mack. Jacoby Brissett scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper. (Colts 7, Chiefs 3 with 3:44 left in the 1st quarter)
Hot start for Mahomes: Patrick Mahomes completed eight of nine passes for 71 yards on the Chiefs’ opening drive. But Kansas City had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by kicker Harrison Butker. That’s an early victory for the Indianapolis defense, keeping the Chiefs out of the end zone. (Chiefs 3, Colts 0 with 9:02 left in the 1st quarter)
More NFL coverage:
How Gardner Minshew went from college nomad to mustachioed cult hero to NFL’s top rookie
Brewer: Russell Wilson is the best franchise quarterback in the NFL
The Rams are reeling after Thursday night loss to Seattle
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