The Kansas City Chiefs‘ 27-0 lead over the Denver Broncos turned into a narrow 34-28 win Sunday after Patrick Mahomes threw three costly interceptions that continued to give Russell Wilson & Co. one chance after another.
Mahomes counterbalanced his mistakes with a trio of touchdown passes, as the Chiefs (10-3) defeated the Broncos (3-10) for the 14th consecutive time. With the win, Mahomes improved to 10-0 against Denver, becoming the fourth quarterback in NFL history to beat one team 10 consecutive times.
Mahomes threw for 352 yards, which included a no-look TD pass to Jerick McKinnon that he came up with after shaking off Broncos defensive lineman D.J. Jones.
Mahomes and McKinnon connected on a 10-yard score on the ensuing possession, followed by a 4-yard touchdown strike to JuJu Smith-Schuster late in the third quarter to extend the Chiefs’ lead to 34-21 after the Broncos roared back and gave K.C. a run for its money in the second half. In the end, Mahomes’ squad held off Denver by just six points.
“Luckily we got the win,” Mahomes said. “But you don’t win a lot of games when you’ve got three interceptions.
“Just three bad decisions. Luckily for me, the rest of the team stepped up. Defense made a lot of stops in some critical moments when we were putting them in some bad situations. Even my special teams.”
On Monday’s “Undisputed,” Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless graded Mahomes’ performance against Denver.
“I give him a C,” Sharpe said. “You saw the exquisiteness, the greatness of Patrick Mahomes — and then … why was he trying to force the ball? The Chiefs are up 27-0, and then he turns the ball back over to get the Broncos back into the ballgame. [The Chiefs] take over, and then he gets the Broncos back in the ballgame with a terrible interception. Mahomes didn’t do the Chiefs any favors. Turnovers get you beat, I don’t care how great you are.”
Bayless handed Mahomes a B- for his performance, agreeing that the Chiefs signal-caller undercut his greatness with careless interceptions but arguing that his 15-0 career mark in road divisional games and his 10-0 record against Denver are extraordinary and noteworthy.
“I think [the Chiefs] will fall short of getting back to the Super Bowl even though [Mahomes] is obviously good enough to lift them into a Super Bowl if he could just clean up the act,” Bayless said.
“I think the Broncos would’ve had a big, signature win if Russ hadn’t gotten concussed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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