KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s hard enough to slow down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs under the best of circumstances.
Try doing it with your star quarterback shelved by COVID-19, a 40-year-old journeyman taking his place, your top running back headed to injured reserve and a flight that didn’t land in Kansas City until shortly before kickoff.
Yet the New England Patriots still managed to give the Chiefs fits for most of the way Monday night, hanging within a field goal of the Super Bowl champs until late in the third quarter. It wasn’t until Tyrann Mathieu took an interception back for a touchdown in the fourth that Kansas City clinched its 26-10 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
“You’ve seen it this season. You’ve seen it last season. Even if you hold us down, we can go out there and make plays when they count,” said Mahomes, who threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns. “When your number is called you have to make plays, and I thought enough guys made plays that we were able to get out of there with a win.”
Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman had the TD grabs for the Chiefs, who have now won 13 straight games.
“We made plays when we had to make plays,” coach Andy Reid said, “and we can learn from this. We have to do better in a lot of areas, but it’s tough to win in this league and it’s tough to beat the Patriots in any situation.”
Perhaps a bit easier in this one.
The marquee matchup was supposed to be Sunday, but it was put on pause when New England confirmed that a player — later revealed to be Cam Newton — tested positive for COVID-19. Later on Saturday, it came out that Chiefs practice squad QB Jordan Ta’amu also had tested positive, forcing the NFL to postpone the game.
More tests, including one taken at 6 a.m. ET on Monday, returned no additional positives from either team.
With their quarterback sidelined, and running back Sony Michel hitting the IR with a quad injury, the Patriots (2-2) were forced to lean on journeyman Brian Hoyer and a cast of running backs that never got into much of a rhythm.
Hoyer, who has now lost 11 straight starts for three different teams, was 15 of 24 for 130 yards and an interception before getting benched in the second half. Jarrett Stidham led the Patriots to a touchdown to close to 13-10, but he also threw two interceptions, including the pick-6 to Mathieu that propelled the Chiefs to their fourth straight 4-0 start.
“We had some opportunities tonight (and) weren’t able to take advantage of them. You can’t give a team like that those kind of opportunities,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Turned the ball over four times. Had too many penalties.”
Yet much of the way, Belichick’s run-heavy, drain-the-clock game plan worked.
The Chiefs marched downfield for a field goal on their first drive, added another later in the half, but otherwise had a hard time getting into gear. Sammy Watkins wasted a scoring chance by fumbling in the red zone, Mahomes was under constant duress and the rest of his wide receivers were blanketed by the New England secondary.
In fact, the Patriots could have been leading had Hoyer not made two monumental mistakes.
The first came in the closing seconds of the first half, when the Patriots had used their timeouts to drive into field-goal range. Hoyer was sacked by Frank Clark on third down, and the 40-year-old journeyman didn’t realize he couldn’t stop the clock. It hit zero and the Chiefs took a 6-3 lead into the locker room.
Hoyer’s second mistake came late in the third quarter, when he again felt the pocket collapse on a third-down play. This time, the Chiefs stripped the ball loose and recovered it, keeping New England from another field-goal attempt.
“Two bad decisions in the red area cost us points,” he said.
Give the Chiefs enough chances and they’ll usually close it out.
Finally taking advantage of a swing in momentum, Mahomes hit Hill and Travis Kelce with long passes to move swiftly downfield. And when Hill took a jet sweep to the pylon for a touchdown, the Chiefs had some breathing room.
The Patriots answered behind a long run from Damien Harris, who had just been activated off IR, and a nifty catch by N’Keal Harry in the end zone. But the Chiefs kept moving on offence, taking advantage of pass interference and personal foul penalties by the least-flagged team in the league to set up Hardman’s touchdown.
When Mathieu was perfectly positioned to catch a tipped pass and take it to the house, the Chiefs were headed toward a winning start to a grueling stretch of three games in 11 days that includes a visit to the Buffalo Bills.
“Still feel like we can play so much better and that I think’s the goal,” Mathieu said. “Forget about this game. Our younger guys stepped up, played well, but we’re getting into the thick of it. We have two real tough opponents coming up and we need to find a way to win the next two games.”
WHITE RETURNS
Patriots running back James White was back after missing two games following the death of his father. He carried three times for 21 yards and caught seven passes for 38 yards, then teared up during a postgame news conference.
“He meant everything for me,” White said. “He pushed me. He wouldn’t always tell me what I wanted to hear. But he always wanted me to do the right thing and pushed me to be the best I could be all the time.”
INJURIES
Patriots: Right guard Shaq Mason missed the game after a calf injury popped up late last week. The Patriots offensive line was further depleted later in the first quarter, when right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor left with migraines.
Chiefs: Defensive tackle Chris Jones was out with a groin injury that sidelined him in practice last week. Defensive end Mike Danna joined him on the bench with a hamstring injury in the second quarter.
UP NEXT
The Patriots continue their tour of the AFC West when the Broncos visit New England on Sunday. The Chiefs face the Raiders the same afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
