Patrick Mahomes threw for a lot of yards, Travis Kelce caught many of his passes, and Kareem Hunt powered into the end zone again, setting off a shower of red fireworks over Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night.
It felt like it was six years ago since this trio of Chiefs played a home game together.
Due to injuries affecting their offense, the Chiefs relied on these two key players and the return of their former star running back to win against the Saints, 26-13.
Mahomes finished with 331 passing yards, Kelce had nine catches for a game-high 70 yards, and Hunt ran 27 times for 102 yards and one touchdown.
“It was a great feeling to get back in the end zone. I missed it very much,” said Hunt, who rejoined the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago after starter Isiah Pacheco got injured. “That’s why I threw up a heart. To show my love for Kansas City.”
There was a lot of excitement in Arrowhead Stadium.
As the Chiefs improved to 5-0 with another strong defensive performance, the Royals were beating the Yankees in Game 2 of their AL Division Series in New York. Fans frequently chanted “Let’s go Royals!” during the game, and when the Royals secured a 4-2 win to tie the series, a loud cheer erupted in Arrowhead.
“There was kind of a lull there toward the end of the game, and I was like, ‘They’re not showing the score. The Yankees came back,’” said Mahomes, who has a stake in the Royals. “But they picked it up and got the win, and it was extremely exciting.”
The Chiefs held Saints quarterback Derek Carr to 185 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception before he left the game due to an oblique injury.
This happened with about 9 and a half minutes left when Carr was hit by blitzing defensive back Chamarri Conner on a fourth-down pass attempt as he tried to bring New Orleans back from a 23-13 deficit.
“I couldn’t do what I needed to do in the simplest form,” said Carr, who plans to have an MRI exam on Tuesday.
The Saints’ Alvin Kamara only gained 26 yards rushing on 11 carries, becoming the latest well-known running back to struggle against the Chiefs. They held the Ravens’ Derrick Henry to 46 rushing yards, Bengals’ Zack Moss to 34, Falcons star Bijan Robinson to 31, and J.K. Dobbins to 32 in last week’s win over the Chargers.
“We got outplayed,” said Saints coach Dennis Allen. “We really couldn’t get a whole lot going on either side of the ball.”
The first half on Monday night had a mix of events: Hunt scored his first touchdown since returning to Kansas City, where his once-promising career was affected by an off-field incident; a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Rashid Shaheed, which was the shortest of the three touchdowns he has caught this season; and another lateral from Kelce during a strange drive.
The Chiefs were ahead 10-7 when a fumbled pitch and a holding penalty put them in a tough spot at second-and-34. They managed to gain some yards back with a pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, and then Mahomes connected with Kelce.
Kelce lateraled to Samaje Perine, who got very close to a first down, and Kansas City converted the fourth-and-short play to set up a field goal.
Field goals were what kept New Orleans in the game. The Chiefs have had trouble scoring touchdowns in the red zone all season, which led them to let Harrison Butker kick three easy field goals to lead 16-7 at halftime.
Their issues in the red zone continued in the third quarter. On second-and-goal, a pass to Smith-Schuster bounced off his hands at the goal line and was caught by 324-pound former Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who made his first career interception.
The Saints quickly moved 65 yards down the field, with Foster Moreau catching a touchdown to bring the score to 16-13 with 14:16 left in the game.
But unlike in every other game for the Chiefs, which had been decided in the last moments — if not the final play — they responded with a strong answer. Smith-Schuster caught a 50-yard pass shortly after, and Xavier Worthy took a handoff on first-and-goal at the 3 for a touchdown that increased their lead early in the fourth quarter.
After the Chiefs stopped the Saints on fourth down, they added another field goal with 3:03 remaining to secure the win.
“It’s pretty cool to get the band back together,” said Smith-Schuster, who has returned to the Chiefs after spending a couple of years in New England. “Man, I’m telling you, there is no place like this. What we have here is special. It’s unreal.”
