Chiefs fend off Bucs on OT, move to 8-0

Kansas City improved to 8-0 Monday, but it was anything but easy as Tampa Bay scored a touchdown in the waning seconds of regulation, and then eschewed a 2-point conversion attempt to send the game into OT. Kansas City scored a touchdown in the extra session to secure the win.

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November 5, 2024 - 2:41 PM

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) pressures Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) while defensive end George Karlaftis (56) gets the sack in the second quarter on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo by Dominick Williams/The Kansas City Star/TNS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched as the Buccaneers drove down the field in the final minute of regulation, and Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass that put Tampa Bay within a 2-point conversion of ending Kansas City’s perfect start to the season.

Bucs coach Todd Bowles admitted to giving “very minor” thought to going for 2 before kicking the extra point that sent the game to overtime.

“I’m glad he didn’t,” Reid said with a smile.

That’s because the Chiefs won the ensuing coin toss, and Patrick Mahomes capped a big day — 291 yards passing and three touchdowns on a gimpy ankle — by going 5 for 5 on the only drive of overtime. Kareem Hunt finished it off, along with his 106-yard rushing performance, by plunging into the end zone from 2 yards out to give Kansas City a 30-24 victory on Monday night.

“Everybody had a piece of this,” Reid said.

DeAndre Hopkins had eight catches for 86 yards and two TDs. Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with Taylor Swift watching from a suite. And a defense missing a couple of key players to injuries held Mayfield to 200 yards passing and two touchdowns, and shut down a Tampa Bay running game that managed just 95 yards.

The result was familiar: The Chiefs won their 14th straight dating to last season, the longest streak since Carolina started 14-0 in 2014, and they became just the sixth Super Bowl champ to start 8-0 the following season. They also have won their last eight games when trailing in the second half, including the postseason.

The Buccaneers had their chance when Mayfield hit Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go. But rather than go for the win, Bowles decided to kick the extra point — and Bucs ended up losing for the fourth time in five games.

“We’ve got guys who are not going to quit fighting to the end,” Tampa Bay wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. “I’m really proud of the group and the way everybody fought. We’ve just got to clean up some little stuff. And that’s what this league is all about.”

It was a memorable first half for two players who’d been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up taking a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his 7-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football all the way into the second deck.

“I can’t even count right now,” White said, when asked how many friends and family were watching from those stands.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Josh Hayes (32) couldn’t stop Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (8) from pulling in a pass for a touchdown in the fourth quarter on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo by Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/TNS

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes at that point, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain that put the Chiefs inside the Tampa Bay 5. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

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