The Kansas City Chiefs gave quarterback Patrick Mahomes two drives on Friday night, with the Texas Tech product turning both opportunities into touchdowns, in a 28-25 victory at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium that completed a perfect 3-0 preseason for the defending AFC champions.
Mahomes finished 8 of 9 with 117 yards passing and two touchdowns for Kansas City, including a 35-yard scoring strike to Tyreek Hill on the first possession of the game, with Mahomes, with increased playing time, looking sharper than in brief first-half appearances against San Francisco and Arizona earlier in the three-game preseason slate. A short touchdown pass to veteran tight end Blake Bell finished Mahomes night before the first half had been completed.
For Minnesota, Kirk Cousins was decent, but nowhere near spectacular, throwing seven passes and completing five, for 57 yards. Texas A&M product Kellen Mond, a third-round pick of the Vikings in April’s draft, was 16 of 23 for 196 yards with an interception, while Jake Browning, a University of Washington product, continued to struggle, throwing eight passes and completing only two.
For Kansas City, backup quarterback Chad Henne watched the entire game from the sideline, with Coach Andy Reid using the final tune-up to get Shane Buechele a closer look. In the second quarter, the former SMU Mustang drove the Chiefs for a touchdown, pushing the halftime lead to 21-3, but he also threw a “Pick 6” to Parry Nickerson in the final quarter. Rookie running back A.J. Rose Jr. scored on a 32-yard third quarter run for Minnesota, with Chiefs rookie running back Derrick Gore scoring on a 56-yard catch and run for the final Kansas City touchdown of the night.
Both the Vikings and the Chiefs open the regular season on Sunday, September 12th, playing teams out of the state of Ohio, with Kansas City hosting Cleveland in an early-season AFC showdown, while the Vikings will be on the road, taking on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.
Photo credit – Wikimedia Commons / Kansas City, MO
