The Kansas City Chiefs completed a thrilling comeback on Monday night to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders, 30-29, and move to 4-1 on the season.
Here are some quick notes from the game.
1. The Chiefs completed the fourth-largest comeback in franchise history on Monday.
Kansas City fought back from a 17-point deficit to win on Monday night, matching the fourth-largest comeback in team history (including the postseason) and the largest since the Chiefs overcame a 24-point deficit in the Divisional Round of the 2019-20 playoffs.
The only other regular-season comebacks larger than Monday's heroics occurred in 2016 (21 points) and 2012 (18 points). It was the sixth 17-point comeback in franchise history.
2. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes tallied the 15th game of his career with four or more passing touchdowns.
Mahomes engineered that comeback by completing 29-of-43 passes for 292 yards and four touchdowns on Monday, tallying his 15th career outing with four or more scoring strikes. That total is the most of any player in the NFL since 2018, and the most for any quarterback through 68 career starts in NFL history.
It was Mahomes' 10th career performance with four or more touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
3. Tight end Travis Kelce was on the receiving end of all four of those touchdown passes.
Kelce put together a career performance on Monday in terms of finding the end zone, matching a franchise record with four receiving touchdowns. Kelce joined Jamaal Charles (2013) and Frank Jackson (1964) as the only players in team history to find the end zone that many times in a single game. Kelce also became just the ninth player across the NFL to score four or more touchdowns in one game since 2000.
Kelce's efforts moved him past Jamaal Charles for the third-most touchdowns in franchise history (67). Only Priest Holmes (83) and Tony Gonzalez (76) found the end zone more during their careers with Kansas City.
Additionally, Kelce's seven touchdown receptions now lead the NFL.
4. Mahomes spread the football around to nine different pass-catchers on Monday night.
Nine different players caught a pass on Monday, including wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (6 catches for 90 yards), wide receiver Mecole Hardman (4 catches for 73 yards), wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (3 catches for 33 yards), tight end Travis Kelce (7 catches for 25 yards), tailback Clyde Edwards-Helaire (3 catches for 20 yards), tailback Jerick McKinnon (2 catches for 19 yards), wide receiver Skyy Moore (2 catches for 15 yards), wide receiver Justin Watson (1 catch for 10 yards) and tight end Noah Gray (1 catch for 7 yards).
Valdes-Scantling, in particular, had his best game as a Chief. His 90-yard performance featured two enormous receptions on third down that each moved the chains on third-and-long.
5. Tailback Jerick McKinnon was responsible for one of the plays that ignited the comeback.
It didn't directly result in points for Kansas City, but McKinnon's 30-yard run on 2nd-and-17 midway through the second quarter was undoubtedly one of the game's biggest plays. The Raiders had established themselves as the more physical team up until that point and possessed a 17-point advantage, but McKinnon's run – which featured numerous broken tackles – served as a reminder that there was still plenty of game left to play. Mahomes found Kelce for a one-yard touchdown six plays later, and the comeback was underway.
The play marked McKinnon's longest run since the 2020 season, and he couldn't have picked a better time for it.
6. Defensive end George Karlaftis and linebacker Darius Harris each recorded their first career sack.
Both Karlaftis and Harris brought down Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr on Monday, marking the first career sack for each player. Harris' play, in particular, helped stall an otherwise promising Raiders' possession and forced Las Vegas to settle for a field goal. Considering that the game was ultimately decided by one point, those sorts of plays made all the difference in the end.
As a team, Kansas City pressured Carr on 15 of his dropbacks. Defensive tackle Chris Jones (5), George Karlaftis (4), defensive end Frank Clark (3) and cornerback Rashad Fenton (2) each recorded multiple pressures.
7. After falling behind by 17, the Chiefs outscored Las Vegas by 18 points the rest of the way.
A comeback requires contributions on both sides of the ball, and that's exactly what took place on Monday night. After falling in to a 17-0 hole midway through the second quarter, Kansas City ripped off a 30-6 run from the 4:40 mark of the second quarter through the 7:25 mark of the fourth quarter. That stretch included a run of five-consecutive possessions that ended in points for Kansas City. The Raiders, conversely, managed just five first downs in that same span.
Overall, the Chiefs outscored Las Vegas by 18 points following the initial 17-point deficit.
8. Despite the offensive heroics, it was the defense that came up clutch at the end.
The defense secured Monday's victory with huge plays on two separate occasions late in the contest. First, the Chiefs stonewalled Raiders' tailback Josh Jacobs on a Las Vegas' two-point try that would have given the Raiders the lead with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Then, on the Raiders' final series, Kansas City held on fourth down to re-claim possession and effectively end the game.
The offense will get a lot of credit for Monday's comeback, and deservingly so, but don't forget about the defensive heroics that helped seal the win.
9. Kicker Matthew Wright connected on the longest field goal in franchise history.
Wright, who took the field for his second game with Kansas City on Monday, nailed a career-long, 59-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The successful kick narrowed the deficit to just 10 points heading into halftime and marked the longest field goal in franchise history.
The previous record of 58 yards was shared by Harrison Butker and Nick Lowery.
10. The Chiefs continued their dominance over the AFC West.
Kansas City is now 33-5 vs. the AFC West since 2016, which is easily the best mark for any team against their own division in that span. In fact, every other team in the NFL has lost at least 10 divisional matchups in that time.
Patrick Mahomes, specifically, is now 23-3 against AFC West foes in his career. Monday marked his sixth-career game with four or more touchdown passes against a divisional opponent.
It all added up to a truly exhilarating victory, but the Chiefs will need to quickly turn the page with a big-time matchup against the Buffalo Bills looming this upcoming Sunday.
