Chiefs pull away from Saints to remain unbeaten

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw for a bunch of yards. Travis Kelce caught a whole lot of his passes. And Kareem Hunt plowed into the end zone once again, sending a torrent of red fireworks flying over Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night.

It might as well have been six years ago, the last time that trio of Kansas City Chiefs played in a home game together.

But with injuries having ravaged their offense, the Chiefs were forced to lean on two of their stalwarts and the return of their erstwhile star running back to beat the New Orleans Saints, 26-13. Mahomes finished with 331 yards through the air, Kelce had a game-high nine catches for 70 yards, JuJu Smith-Schuster helped the Chiefs make up for the absence of injured wide receiver Rashee Rice with seven catches for 130 yards and Hunt ran 27 times for 102 yards and a touchdown.

“It was a great feeling to get back in the end zone. I missed it very much,” said Hunt, who only returned to the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago, after an injury to starter Isiah Pacheco. “That’s why I threw up a heart. To show my love for Kansas City.”

There was a lot of love flowing inside Arrowhead Stadium.

Just as the Chiefs were moving to 5-0 behind another defensive gem, the Royals were beating the Yankees in Game 2 of their American League Division Series in New York. There were frequent chants of “Let’s go Royals!” throughout the game, and when the Royals finished off a 4-2 victory to send the series back to Kansas City tied at a game apiece, a roar ripped through 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 owns a part of 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 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception before leaving with an oblique injury. It occurred with about 9½ minutes left, when Carr was hit by blitzing defensive back Chamarri Conner on a fourth-down incompletion as he tried to rally New Orleans from a 23-13 deficit.

“I couldn’t do what I needed to do in the simplest form,” said Carr, who plans to get an MRI exam on Tuesday.

The Saints’ Alvin Kamara managed 26 yards rushing on 11 carries, becoming the latest high-profile running back to struggle against the Chiefs. They held the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry to 46 yards rushing, Zack Moss of the Cincinnati Bengals to 34, Atlanta Falcons star Bijan Robinson to 31 and J.K. Dobbins to 32 in last week’s victory over the Chargers.

“We got outplayed,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “We really couldn’t get a whole lot going on either side of the ball.”

The first half Monday night featured a bit of everything: Hunt’s first touchdown since returning to Kansas City, where his once-promising career was derailed by an off-the-field incident; a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Rashid Shaheed, the shortest of the three Shaheed has caught this season; and yet another lateral by Kelce, which came on the most bizarre of drives.

The Chiefs were leading 10-7 when a fumbled pitch and a holding penalty left them facing second-and-34. They got some of it back on a pass to Smith-Schuster, and then Mahomes hit Kelce over the middle. Kelce lateraled to Samaje Perine, who got within a yard of a first down, and Kansas City converted the fourth-and-short play to set up an eventual field goal.

It was exactly that – field goals – that kept New Orleans in the game, though. The Chiefs have struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone all season, and they were forced to let Harrison Butker kick a trio of chip shots to lead 16-7 at the break.

Their red-zone woes continued in the third quarter. On second-and-goal, Smith-Schuster had a pass bounce off his hands at the goal line and into the arms of 324-pound former Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who made his first career interception.

The Saints promptly marched 65 yards with Foster Moreau’s touchdown catch getting them within 16-13 with 14:16 to play.

But unlike every other game for the Chiefs, which had been decided in the final minutes – if not the final play – they answered the blow by delivering one of their own. Smith-Schuster hauled in a 50-yard pass moments later, and Xavier Worthy took a handoff on first-and-goal at the 3-yard line for a touchdown that extended their cushion early in the fourth quarter.

After the Chiefs stopped the Saints on fourth down, they tacked on another field goal with 3:03 left to put the game away.

“It’s pretty cool to get the band back together,” said Smith-Schuster, who is also back with the Chiefs after a couple of years spent in New England. “Man, I’m telling you, there is no place like this. What we have here is special. It’s unreal.”

Smith-Schuster and Hunt were once important players for the Chiefs. Smith-Schuster was their leading wide receiver in his one season for the Chiefs in 2022, when they won a Super Bowl. Hunt led the league in rushing for the Chiefs as a rookie in 2017 and was having another big season in 2018 when they released him after a video surfaced showing him shoving and kicking a woman.

The Chiefs wanted Smith-Schuster for depth after losing Hollywood Brown to injury. He caught only two passes in the four games before Monday night, when his role expanded in the Chiefs’ first game without Rice.

“It’s a credit to not only the guys and how hard they work, but Coach [Andy] Reid and just knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions,” Mahomes said. “Kareem just runs extremely hard. He gets every yard out there, catches the ball, does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win.

“[Smith-Schuster] fits in well in this offense and so he did a great job today. It was cool to get those guys going.”

Mahomes compared Smith-Schuster to Kelce in terms of his understanding of what the Chiefs are trying to accomplish on each play.

“Trav is kind of one of a kind, but [Smith-Schuster] has a good feel for the entire concept of the play and so he knows how to get into the open spots,” Mahomes said. “He did a good job today of beating man when they played man and finding windows [in zone] to get big catches.”

SWIFT RETURNS

Musician Taylor Swift was back at Arrowhead Stadium to see Kelce and the Chiefs after missing her boyfriend’s previous two road games. She resumes her record-setting Eras Tour on Friday night with the first of three shows in Miami. Kelce had nine catches for 70 yards.

INJURIES

Saints: Cornerback Will Harris hurt his hamstring in the first half. Center Lucas Patrick left briefly in the third quarter with a collarbone injury,

Chiefs: Left tackle Wanya Morris left in the first half with a lower leg injury but returned to the game.

UP NEXT

New Orleans hosts Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Kansas City has a week off before visiting San Francisco on Oct. 20.