KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs knew they were going to have a fight on their hands when the Detroit Lions, riding a four-game winning streak and a whole bunch of momentum, rolled into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
They probably didn’t expect their dominant performance to end with an actual fistfight.
Mahomes threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns, scrambled for another score, and led Kansas City to a 30-17 victory that was so comprehensive that Lions safety Brian Branch boiled over at its conclusion. Branch delivered a right hook to Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster as the teams were coming together at midfield, touching off a brief melee among players.
“It is what it is,” Mahomes said. “You just kind of move on. We won the football game.”
Did they ever.
Marquise Brown had two touchdown receptions and Xavier Worthy had another for the Chiefs (3-3), who played a near-flawless game – no penalties, no turnovers – one week after a mistake-strewn, last-second loss at Jacksonville.
Kansas City also managed to hold in check the NFL’s highest-scoring offense to snap Detroit’s winning streak.
“We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell, who began his postgame briefing by saying that Branch’s cheap shot was “inexcusable and not going to be accepted here,” and that he had apologized to the Chiefs for it.
“We were able to do some good things in phases at times but not enough for a team like that with the pedigrees they have,” Campbell continued. “We were not able to compliment each other and we were not able to make it a game, really. We weren’t.”
Jared Goff finished with 203 yards passing for the Lions (4-2), though he did connect with Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta for scores. Amon-Ra St. Brown was held to 45 yards receiving and Jahmyr Gibbs needed 17 carries to gain just 65 yards.
Detroit was intent on trying to grind down the Chiefs’ defense and keep their potent offense off the field.
The Lions did a good job on the opening drive, too. They ran 15 plays over a 9:39 span, chewing up so much clock that Mahomes looked downright bored on the sideline. And it looked as if it would pay off when David Montgomery took a direct snap and threw to Goff, who powered into the end zone from a yard out for a touchdown.
But the officials came together to discuss the play, and even though nobody had thrown a flag, they eventually said Goff was not set – an illegal motion penalty. After a delay of game, the Lions had to settle for Jake Bates’ chip-shot field goal.
“I’ve got to do a little research on exactly what went wrong,” Goff said.
Kansas City wasted no time answering, marching 70 yards in eight plays. Mahomes hit three receivers on the drive, and Worthy hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to give the Chiefs the lead.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the first half: The Lions went the other way with Williams grabbing a 22-yard pass to give them the lead back, and the Chiefs answered with Mahomes scoring on a keeper for a 13-10 edge at halftime.
“It was important to get that lead back and get the momentum and get the crowd going,” Mahomes said.
The banged-up Lions defense, missing cornerbacks D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox, couldn’t slow down the Chiefs, who are finding their offensive mojo again just in time to get suspended wide receiver Rashee Rice back next week.
They roared downfield on the opening drive of the second half, this time with Marquise Brown hauling in the touchdown catch to extend the lead. And when the Lions finally answered behind a flurry of passes to St. Brown and a nifty toss to LaPorta in the end zone, Kansas City rolled right back downfield as Marquise Brown pulled in another touchdown reception for a 27-17 lead.
Detroit proceeded to go three-and-out, and the Chiefs put the game away from there.
“It’s disappointing, you know? I’m disappointed, because it’s been a long time ago since you were watching someone kneel it three times in front of you, and it’s not even close,” Campbell said. “We got worked pretty good. So yeah, it’s disappointing.”
Missing Simmons
The Chiefs played without left tackle Josh Simmons, their first-round pick, who had a personal issue that kept him from making it back to Kansas City for the game. Jaylon Moore played well in his place against Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit pass rush.
More on Mahomes
Mahomes has 302 career touchdown passes, including the postseason, becoming the quickest player in NFL history to reach the 300 mark. He accomplished the feat in 139 games, eight faster than Aaron Rodgers, to the delight of a crowd that included Taylor Swift – the fiancee of tight end Travis Kelce – and WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
Injuries
Lions: CB Terrion Arnold (shoulder) and LT Taylor Decker (shoulder) were inactive.
Chiefs: CB Nohl Williams was evaluated for a concussion and cleared in the first half.
Up next
Lions: Host Tampa Bay next Monday night.
Chiefs: Host Las Vegas next Sunday.
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