Patrick Mahomes' extraordinary success with the Kansas City Chiefs has largely been built on his incredible rapport with tight end Travis Kelce.
On Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, it was his connection with an unheralded tight end that proved to critical for Mahomes and Kansas City.
The Chiefs fought back from a 17-9 deficit to see off the Titans 20-17 in overtime and move to 6-2.
Mahomes produced magic with his legs to help the Chiefs tie the game, a 20-yard rush on third-and-17 keeping alive a scoring drive he capped with a 14-yard touchdown run. He then added the two-point conversion on another scramble.
His 68 passes were just two shy of the all-time single-game record. Mahomes completed 43 passes, again two short of the league record, with the gap between his tally and that of Titans rookie Malik Willis (five) representing the largest between two starting quarterbacks in a game.
No completion was more important than Mahomes' 27-yard connection with tight end Noah Gray on third-and-1 from the Tennessee 49-yard line.
Under pressure from Demarcus Walker, Mahomes rolled to his right before deftly evading the defensive lineman and stepping up to fire downfield to Gray, who had uncovered from the coverage of Roger McCreary. Gray leapt to make a juggling catch over the head of McCreary, putting Kansas City on the edge of the red zone.
Though the Chiefs could not clinch the game with a touchdown, Harrison Butker converted a 28-yard field goal and the defense stopped Willis and the Titans in four plays on the subsequent series to wrap it up.
"It's funny," Mahomes said. "I think I said it in training camp: I feel like I don't target Noah enough because a lot of times plays are called either to him or he's one of the options I can give him a chance on. And it seems like I don't throw it to him.
"He's always open — and so as the season's going on and as our careers go on I want to give him more and more chances, because I think he can be a big part of this offense.
"That whole tight end room has been great for us this season. But for [Gray] to make that catch in that moment? I mean, that was a tough catch that he made; that was a big one for us. That was probably the reason that we were able to get down there and win."
Asked about his third-down run that set the comeback in motion, Mahomes replied: "I definitely saw a lane to get it close enough that I thought we'd be able to go for it [on fourth down].
"When you're in that situation, you know that if you can get it to a fourth-and-5, fourth-and-4, coach Reid's probably going to give you a chance there.
"And then as I was running, I felt the – I think it was the safety — kind of overpursuing so I kind of shot my shot and went out there. I actually tried to get outside again which didn’t work out for me; I’m not fast enough.
"But it was a good play and like I said we just battled at the end of the day. It wasn't like we were designing it up we were just going out there and trying to make some stuff happen."
Mahomes is the NFL king of making stuff happen, and his primetime heroics in Week 9 moved the Chiefs level with the 6-2 Buffalo Bills at the top of the AFC. The Chiefs are in prime position to make another run at a Super Bowl title.
NFL: Chiefs stay perfect with OT win over Bucs
Kareem Hunt finished the game's lone overtime drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that kept the Kansas City Chiefs unbeaten with Monday's 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hunt powered into the end zone to conclude the 10-play, 70-yard series that gave Kansas City (8-0) its 14th consecutive victory, including play-off games, dating back to last season. The veteran running back finished the night with a season-high 106 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, including two to DeAndre Hopkins in the wide receiver's first home game as a Chief, to help the defending Super Bowl champions stay perfect despite the Buccaneers forcing overtime on Baker Mayfield's 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Tampa Bay (4-5) opted to kick the extra point instead of attempting a potential game-winning two-point conversion, however, and never got the ball back again after losing the coin toss to begin overtime.
The Bucs trailed 10-7 at half-time following Mahomes' 1-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins late in the second quarter, but scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to move ahead.
After Mayfield found Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the period for a 14-10 lead, Tampa Bay's defence forced a three-and-out to help set up Chase McLaughlin's 47-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the third.
The Chiefs stormed back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, however. Mahomes capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown delivery to Samaje Perine to tie the game at 17-17, then later hit Hopkins for a go-ahead 5-yard strike with 4:17 remaining in regulation.
Kansas City's next possession stalled, though, to give Mayfield enough time to orchestrate a 10-play, 71-yard sequence that ended in Miller's tying touchdown grab.
Mayfield finished 23 of 31 with 200 yards and two touchdowns. Otton led the Bucs with 77 receiving yards on eight catches, while Rachaad White had a rushing touchdown for Tampa in the first half.
The Chiefs received 14 catches for 100 yards from Travis Kelce and 86 yards on eight receptions from Hopkins, playing his second game since being acquired by Kansas CIty from the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 24.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
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