KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The Kansas City Chiefs looked much like they have all season for the first three quarters against Indianapolis on Sunday.
Their offense was stuck in a rut, penalties were piling up, and the reigning AFC champions’ postseason hopes were growing ever dimmer.
In the fourth quarter and overtime, Patrick Mahomes and Co. finally resembled their old selves.
The two-time MVP threw for a season-high 352 yards while rallying the Chiefs from an 11-point deficit, their defense forced Indianapolis to go three-and-out on its final four possessions, and Harrison Butker banged through his fifth field goal of the game from 27 yards to give Kansas City a 23-20 victory that just might have kept its playoff hopes alive.
“All five of our losses felt like this game, where there were plays we could make and we didn’t,” Mahomes said afterward. “You can talk about it all day, but until you prove it, it doesn’t. We proved today we could make the plays.”
Just like they used to.
Nearly everybody had a hand in it, too. Kareem Hunt ran 30 times for 104 yards and a score. Rashee Rice caught eight passes for 141 yards, including two important ones on the tying drive in regulation and another in OT to set up Butker’s field goal. And their defense held the league’s No. 1 offense to just 255 yards, easily the Indianapolis Colts’ worst output all season.
“The part I liked the best was the support the guys gave each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Nobody flinched. Nobody was hanging their head. It wasn’t happening. They came out and they played, and they did it when it counted.”
Now, the Chiefs (6-5) have some life heading into a short week. They visit Dallas on Thanksgiving Day.
Meanwhile, the Colts limped home having blown a 20-9 fourth-quarter lead thanks in part to questionable play-calling and even worse execution. They went almost entirely away from running back Jonathan Taylor down the stretch, putting the game instead in the hands of Daniel Jones, and his inability to pick up even one first down in the fourth quarter and overtime proved costly.
Jones wound up with a season-low 181 yards passing and two touchdowns. He was 8 of 18 for 83 yards in the second half.
Taylor, meanwhile, only carried 16 times for 58 yards in his first game since a record-setting performance against the Falcons, when the Colts star ran for 244 yards, piled up 286 from scrimmage and reached the end zone three times in an overtime win.
“Obviously very frustrating. Not up to our standards today,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I wanted to get called that I felt good about in the pass game and we just weren’t efficient doing it, and it starts with me.”
The Chiefs have struggled all season with turnovers at inopportune times, and another set the tone for the first half. Mahomes had a pass from his 4-yard line batted by Laiatu Latu, who brought it in himself for the defensive end’s third pick of the season.
Two players later, Jones hit Michael Pittman to give Indianapolis a 7-0 lead.
The Chiefs answered with the first of two grinding, eight-plus minute first-half drives, but each netted just a field goal. And when the Colts moved briskly downfield again, and Jones found Drew Ogletree in the back of the end zone, they had built a 14-3 advantage.
The Colts were still clinging to 20-9 lead as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
Just as he’s done so many times, though, Mahomes led another comeback. He marched the Chiefs 56 yards to set up Hunt’s TD dive, then Mahomes found Rice for a 2-point conversion to close within a field goal with 8 1/2 minutes to go.
The Chiefs defense proceeded to step up, forcing a series of three-and-outs by the prolific Indianapolis offense.
Kansas City took over after the second one with 4:43 left at its 6. Mahomes hit Rice for 47 yards, then he found him again on fourth-and-3 near midfield for a 19-yard gain. Hunt’s dive on third-and-1 gave the Chiefs first down at the Colts 2 with a minute to go, but he was stuffed on the next play, Mahomes threw incomplete on the next, and he was sacked on third down.
Butker knocked through his fourth field goal, a 25-yard chip-shot as time expired, to send the game to overtime.
Turned out the Chiefs would give Butker another chance a few minutes later, this time to win the game.
“Nobody has been hanging our head, going, ‘Oh, no! It’s over!’ That’s not been the mentality within our building,” Reid said. That goes for everybody. Everybody has had a piece of it, and it carried over onto the field.”
Colts: WR Ashton Dulin left in the second half with a hamstring injury.
Chiefs: LG Trey Smith left in the second half with an ankle injury, TE Noah Gray finished the game in the concussion protocol, and CB Chris Roland-Wallace hurt his back during the game.
The Colts play the Texans next Sunday.
The Chiefs visit the Cowboys on Thursday.
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