Arrowhead Pride
On Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs survived in overtime to beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-20, pushing their record to 6-5 and avoiding a three-game losing streak.
Going into the game, it was widely believed that former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo — who is now leading the Indianapolis defense — would make things difficult for Mahomes and the Kansas City offense. That narrative was borne out for much of this matchup.
It started right away: on the second play of the Chiefs’ opening drive, Kansas City’s quarterback faked a handoff and looked for a short completion across the middle — but the Colts’ defensive end Laiatu Latu was prepared to watch Mahomes’ eyes and get in the way. He picked off the pass deep in Kansas City territory and set up the first Indianapolis touchdown.
The Colts’ defense focused on blanketing the Chiefs’ wide receivers on every dropback and funneled passes to safety valves like tight ends and running backs. The unit constantly forced Mahomes to remain patient.
When he was, the Chiefs were able to drive methodically down the field; the offense put together four drives that lasted 10 plays or longer. But that patience sometimes turned to restlessness — even when the pass protection could seal a pocket from a three-man rush. On one third down in the second quarter, Mahomes stepped directly into the defender who was spying him, who was credited with a sack.
Anarumo got the best of Mahomes late in the game as well. Kansas City trailed 20-17 in the fourth quarter — and the offense went three-and-out. On second down, Mahomes succumbed to a sack against a light rush; then his third-down to pass tight end Travis Kelce failed against tight coverage.
As this long game slugged on, Mahomes settled in behind the pass protection — and made significant completions in overtime by remaining patient. On third down, he stepped up in the pocket to find wide receiver Xavier Worthy near midfield as he was hit by a blitzer. A few plays later, he waited for wide receiver Rashee Rice to pop open, setting up the game-winning field goal.
Mahomes finished with just a 63% completion rate and a passer rating of 77.4 — which was dragged down by the interception. But he threw for 352 yards, finding long gains through the air when they were necessary.
The Chiefs’ defense came into the game with a mission to stifle the Colts’ star running back Jonathan Taylor on early downs — and force quarterback Daniel Jones to overcome third downs. On the opening drive, the Chiefs executed by setting up third-and-15; a catch-and-run got close to the sticks, but the ensuing fourth-down attempt was negated by a false start.
It was a strong start for Kansas City’s defense, which continued to hold its own against the NFL’s leading rusher as the game wore on....
