The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 38-10, on Saturday night behind a dominant performance on both sides of the ball.
In fact, all four of the Chiefs' quarterbacks led at least one touchdown drive in the game while Kansas City's defense held Arizona to 3-of-13 on third down.
"It was a good effort all the way around," said Head Coach Andy Reid. "The defense started fast, which we needed to do, and offensively, we had a few hiccups there early – penalties and things like that – and we'll need to take care of business with that, but all in all, I thought all of the groups came out and played good, respectable football. That's what you're trying to get done with the second [preseason] game."
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 10-of-15 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in the contest, leading Kansas City on a 10-play, 92-yard scoring drive on his third and final series that ended with an 18-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Justin Watson.
It was a beautiful drive that featured contributions from six different players and two third down conversions as the starting offense found the end zone following punts on its first two possessions.
"I was telling the guys, if we don't want to keep playing, we better score. Coach Reid is going to keep us in this game until we score," Mahomes said. "We had some mistakes early in the game that we'll need to correct, but I thought the guys did a good job of playing hard and playing fast."
Quarterback Shane Buechele proceeded to maintain that momentum on the Chiefs' next drive, leading Kansas City on a seven-play, 88-yard scoring series that culminated in a 15-yard touchdown scramble that Buechele took himself.
It was part of an impressive game for Buechele, who completed all 10 of his passing attempts for 105 yards across two possessions of work. Six of those throws landed in the arms of rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice, a former teammate of Buechele's at SMU who tallied receptions of 38 and 25 yards as part of a strong night. The rookie second-round pick finished the game with eight grabs for 96 yards, bouncing back from a drop on the Chiefs' first series to lead all players in both catches and receiving yards.
"He has a good feel. We keep pushing him to be better and better, but you can see the talent," Mahomes said of Rice. "He makes a lot of tough catches. He had the drop early, but he responded well…I have a lot of trust in him that he's going to make those catches in tough spaces."
The Chiefs' tremendous quarterback play continued into the third quarter, too, as Blaine Gabbert completed 7-of-8 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns while compiling a perfect, 158.3 passer rating. Gabbert found wide receivers Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Cornell Powell for scores, extending the Chiefs' lead to a double-digit advantage.
Smith-Marsette, in particular, put together a memorable performance with four grabs for 96 yards.
Quarterback Chris Oladokun was responsible for the Chiefs' final touchdown drive, which covered 91 yards on 11 plays and culminated in a 2-yard scoring plunge by rookie tailback Deneric Prince.
Altogether, the Chiefs' quarterbacks completed 31-of-38 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover, leading Kansas City on six consecutive scoring drives beginning late in the first quarter through the end of the game.
Defensively, the Chiefs held Arizona to only 248 yards of total offense and just one touchdown, which took place in the closing seconds of the first half. Kansas City was otherwise dominant defensively, holding the Cardinals to 3-of-13 on third down.
In terms of injuries, Coach Reid reported that the Chiefs came out of the game with a clean bill of health.
The Chiefs will now return to Kansas City for the preseason finale on Saturday against the Cleveland Browns.
