They say it’s better to be lucky than good.
The Kansas City Chiefs, at least in the Patrick Mahomes era, have been a good bit of both.
Mahomes had a Mahomes-like afternoon Sunday in Charlotte – three touchdown passes, two of them to Noah Gray – but it was a field goal, at the buzzer no less, by unheralded Spencer Shrader that pushed the Chiefs past the hapless Carolina Panthers, 30-27.
The Chiefs (10-1) were upset by Buffalo last week, but the Panthers (3-8) aren’t near the level of the Bills. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young went 21-of-35 for 262 yards and a touchdown pass to David Moore. The loss to Kansas City broke a two-game winning streak by the Panthers.
Samaje Perine started the game with electricity, returning the opening kickoff 56 yards for Kansas City. The Chiefs would score on a 35-yard pass from Mahomes to Gray.
Carolina stayed in the game on the foot of Eddy Pineiro, who hit four field goals in the game (from 30, 32, 29 and 33 yards).
Carolina trailed 27-19, but Young connected with receiver Adam Thielen for a first down, managed a pass interference call on Kansas City (not the easiest feat in today’s NFL – take that as you will) and then scored with 1:46 left on a 1-yard run by Chuba Hubbard, followed by a two-point by Hubbard, to tie the game.
It wasn’t over. Just too much time on the clock for Mahomes, and he did it again. He ran for 33 yards on what would be the game’s final drive, and then got a pass to Kareem Hunt for 10 yards, down to the 25, where Shrader would hit the game-winning kick, a 31-yarder.
Of note: Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is now third on the list of the NFL’s all-time career yards by a tight end: the top two are Tony Gonzalez, another former longtime Chief who also played for the Atlanta Falcons, and Jason Witten, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys. Kelce didn’t score but caught six passes for 62 yards.
The Panthers will try to get back on the winning track with a home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, a 3:05 p.m. Central-time start on FOX. The Chiefs will have a rare Friday game, home against the Raiders this Friday at 2 p.m. Central, on Amazon Prime Video.
