The Kansas City Chiefs overcame an early 10-point deficit to compile their fifth victory of the season on Sunday, defeating the San Francisco 49ers by three touchdowns.
Here are some quick notes and facts about the game.
1. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had another monster day.
Mahomes completed 25-of-34 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, posting his league-most fourth game with three or more touchdown passes this season. Mahomes was 6-for-7 on third down for 183 yards and a touchdown in the game, tallying the second-most passing yards on third down for any player in a single game this season.
He also led a double-digit comeback once again, furthering his already historic numbers when trailing. In fact, Mahomes is now 13-9 in his career when trailing by 10 or more points at any time. Additionally, since 2019, Mahomes' winning percentage in those situations (.706) is better than all but one quarterback's overall winning percentage.
In other words, not only is Mahomes never out of a game, but he's actually likely to win even when he falls behind by double-digits. That is simply ridiculous. Furthermore, Mahomes now leads the NFL in passing yards (2,159), passing touchdowns (20) and passer rating (109.5) through seven weeks.
2. Wide receiver Mecole Hardman found the end zone three times.
Hardman put together one of the most productive games of his career on Sunday, tallying his first multi-touchdown performance as a professional. The speedy Hardman took a quick, "pop-pass" around the edge for an eight-yard touchdown early in the game before adding a pair of rushing touchdowns later in the contest, becoming the first wide receiver in the Super Bowl Era to record multiple rushing touchdowns and a receiving score in a single game.
Hardman's five total touchdowns this season are his most since scoring six times in 2019.
3. Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling each topped 100 yards through the air.
In addition to Hardman, both Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling put together strong outings on Sunday. Smith-Schuster hauled in seven catches for a team-leading 124 yards and a touchdown, marking his second consecutive 100-yard game. Valdes-Scantling, meanwhile, caught three passes for 111 yards, tallying his first 100-yard game as a Chief.
There have been eight games across the NFL this season that featured a pair of teammates each recording 100+ receiving yards in a single game. Kansas City is now responsible for two of those occurrences, and the Chiefs are the only team to do so with multiple player combinations (Smith-Schuster and tight end Travis Kelce in Week 6, Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling in Week 7).
4. The Chiefs tallied a bunch of big plays on Sunday.
Kansas City racked up eight plays of 20+ yards on Sunday, four of which occurred on third down. Smith-Schuster (45 yards, 20 yards), Valdes-Scanting (57 yards, 40 yards), Kelce (27 yards, 22 yards), Hardman (25-yard rush) and tailback Jerick McKinnon (34 yards) each contributed to that effort.
The Chiefs now have an NFL-most 37 plays of 20 or more yards this season. For context, that's more 20-yard plays through seven weeks than Kansas City posted in each of the last two seasons (27 in 2021, 33 in 2020).
5. Kansas City was nails on third down throughout the game.
The Chiefs converted six-of-nine third down opportunities on Sunday, tallying 182 yards on third down alone. That works out to an average gain of 20.2 yards. It's worth pointing out that the Chiefs racked up much of that production when facing long third downs, too. Kansas City converted a 3rd-and-6, a 3rd-and-11 and a 3rd-and-20 in the game, completing each of those drives with touchdowns.
Kansas City currently owns the second-best conversion rate (51.9 percent) on third down this season.
6. The offense put together a huge performance against yet another top defense.
The Chiefs own the league's No. 1 scoring offense (31.9 points-per-game) through seven weeks despite facing a gauntlet of opponents that featured some of the best defenses in the NFL. In fact, Kansas City has faced off against either the league's No. 1 or No. 2 scoring defense at the time in three of the last four weeks (Tampa Bay, Buffalo and San Francisco). The Chiefs went 2-1 in those games, averaging 35 points across all three contests.
Additionally, the Chiefs' 44 points on Sunday were the most that San Francisco had allowed since 2019, and the most the 49ers had yielded at home in the history of Levi's Stadium. Kansas City nearly scored as many points as San Francisco had allowed in its last three games combined.
The Chiefs' 44 points and 529 net yards were each season-highs.
7. Defensive end Frank Clark recorded a safety midway through the fourth quarter.
Clark essentially secured the victory on Sunday with a safety on 49ers' quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo midway through the fourth quarter. The play, which extended the Chiefs' lead to 14 points and seemed to put the game away for Kansas City, marked the Chiefs' first safety since defensive lineman Chris Jones recorded one against Miami in 2020.
Clark finished the game with four pressures and 1.5 sacks. He was one of three players (joining Jones and defensive end George Karlaftis) to record 3+ pressures in the game.
8. Cornerback Joshua Williams tallied the first interception of his career, and it couldn't have occurred at a better time.
Williams was responsible for a huge play late in the first half when he picked off Garoppolo in the end zone to thwart a prime 49ers' scoring opportunity. The play preserved the Chiefs' one-point lead and negated a muffed punt by return man Skyy Moore just a few moments earlier.
The Chiefs have inserted two rookie cornerbacks (Williams and Jaylen Watson) into sizable roles this season due to injuries at the position, and both players (Williams doing so in Week 2) have now recorded critical interceptions in the red zone.
9. Overall, the Chiefs' defense put together a strong game against a dynamic opponent.
Kansas City held the 49ers to just 13 total points following their initial 10-point advantage, consistently preventing San Francisco's versatile and unique offensive attack from finding the end zone. In fact, the Chiefs held the 49ers to just 2-of-5 in the red zone. Kansas City, meanwhile, went 4-for-5 on offense.
The Chiefs took the ball away three times, which included an interception by safety Juan Thornhill and a strip-sack by Chris Jones late in the game. Altogether, Kansas City became the first team since the 2020 season to record 5+ sacks, multiple interceptions and a safety in a single game.
Lastly, the Chiefs also prevented Pro Bowl wide receiver Deebo Samuel from having a big game, as he finished with just five catches for 42 yards.
10. The Chiefs continued their dominance over the NFC.
No AFC squad has been better against the NFC over the last several seasons than Kansas City, and that once again held true on Sunday. The Chiefs are now 17-3 vs. NFC opponents since 2018, which is the best mark for any AFC team against the NFC in that time. Those 17 wins are also more than two NFC teams possess against their own conference in that span.
The Chiefs will now enjoy some time off during their bye week before returning to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 6 to take on the Tennessee Titans.
