Chiefs find a way to win ugly against Bengals

It was not pretty, and the Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) lost Pacheco for the foreseeable future in the process, but Butker kicked a game-winner to beat the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) 26-25 in week two.

Another chapter of the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) rivalry is in the books and for the sixth time since the 2022 calendar year the game was decided by less than a score. After taking three losses in the first three matchups, the Chiefs have won three in a row, with this one coming down to a 51-yard field goal made by kicker Harrison Butker as time expired. 

The kick sealed a 26-25 victory for Kansas City and while Butker did once again have ice in his veins, it did not come without help from a timely penalty from Cincinnati. On a fourth and 16 from their own 35 quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a pass 29 yards downfield in a last-ditch effort to keep the game alive to wide receiver Rashee Rice when a Bengals defensive back took him out from behind before the pass arrived. 

This drive that started with two minutes and 35 seconds on the clock down two and seemed to have some insurmountable moments, suddenly became much more optimistic and had a 2-0 start to the season appeared much more likely. After the penalty, the Chiefs ran three more plays before they set up Butker to kick the game-winner. After the game, head coach Andy Reid lauded Butker’s ability to get dialed in for these moments and Butker spoke on his mentality when these opportunities arise. 

“I expect to have a lot of kicks every single game,” Butker said. “I expect the game to be close and for it to end with a game-winning kick and I feel like if that's my mentality going into every game, I'll be prepared for whatever comes my way.”

None of this would have been possible without the player of the game, safety Chamarri Conner. Not only did he end the Bengals' previous drive before the Butker field goal by sacking Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on a blitz, but he also scooped and scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton and defensive end Mike Danna combined for the strip sack that Conner was able to pick up before he took it to the house to give Kansas City a 23-22 lead. Conner mentioned it had not been since high school that he had been able to find the pay dirt. 

“Man, that was amazing,” Conner said. “That was an amazing feeling … I just seen the ball rolling out, I seen the d-lineman make a play, I seen the ball come out and I just went to go scoop it and I didn't hear the whistle, so I was just playing through the whistle, pick it up take it all the way to the house.”

This marks the second straight week Kansas City was able to walk away with a victory even while getting outgained by a healthy margin. A lot of their bigger offensive plays were also called back due to penalties. A win is a win, as they say, but this one seems to be a fortunate one for the Chiefs as they also committed three turnovers while only generating one takeaway themselves. Two of those came by errant throws from Mahomes and one was a fumble by running back Carson Steele. Mahomes finished the afternoon with just 151 passing yards while throwing a pair of touchdowns. 

“I thought we did a lot of good things but obviously the three turnovers just can't happen,” Mahomes said. “The first interception I got to find the backside linebacker (Akeem Davis-Gaither) and the kid (Cam Taylor-Britt) made a great play on the second pick but I'm glad we played not as clean as we wanted to and still found a way to win. That speaks to the defense and the full entire team um but obviously we got to clean up a lot of stuff on offense too as we go forward.”

One of those touchdowns caught the Bengals by surprise as it was actually backup swing-tackle Wanya Morris who brought it in with the Chiefs lining up on the one-yard line. The other was a beautiful 44-yard-deep pass down the sideline that dropped right into Rice’s breadbasket perfectly in stride as he was easily able to keep streaking down the sideline and into the endzone. Rice once again led the Chiefs in receiving with 75 yards on five catches to go along with that touchdown. 

“People obviously saw last week so they're going to they're not going to let them have those free releases and that short stuff,” Mahomes said. “He has to be able to show that he can beat people deep and he was able to do that today … He's a complete receiver, man. He's getting better and better. He can do it all. I think people see the short stuff and they get enamored by it because it's so special when he catches the ball, but he can catch the ball down the field. He can. He can block, He can do everything it takes to be a great receiver in this league.”

One issue that popped up in the game was the play of rookie left tackle Kinsley Suamataia. After getting a holding penalty called on him and, not so surprisingly, getting handled by Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson all day, Reid actually called him to the sideline and benched him in favor of Morris. 

“It's a great learning experience,” Reid said. “Sometimes if you get beat a couple different times and you're a young guy you haven't quite figured out the answers to the test there on how to how to fix it and your coach talks to you and then you got to settle down and that happens, so you go back and you learn from it.”

With no other Chiefs pass-catcher surpassing 22 yards on the game, it was running back Isiah Pacheco that was the engine that made the offense go. The third year running back averaged 4.7 yards per carry totaling 90 yards on 19 carries. He never reached the endzone, but he was third in receiving for Kansas City, totaling 21 yards on five catches. 

One area that Kansas City could have made a bigger impact in this game was when Reid elected to kick a field goal from the one-yard line on the first drive of the game. With how well the Chiefs ran the ball on Sunday afternoon, Pacheco’s odds of punching that in were pretty high and it would have put them in an easier position to win. The Chiefs racked up 149 yards on the ground, taking a page out of the Patriots blueprint from last week when they upset the Bengals. Mahomes was second on the team with 29 yards rushing with Steele racking up 24. 

That was enough offense to carry the Chiefs to their second win of the season, but the defense played complimentary football as well. The Bengals' longest plays of the game was a 47-yard catch by rookie receiver Jermaine Burton and a 37-yarder by Mike Gesicki, but other than that, it was a lot of small change for Cincinnati. They only rushed for 74 yards as a team and Kansas City limited key threat, receiver Ja’Marr Chase to four catches for 35 yards. Burrow did bounce back a bit with 258 yards and two touchdowns. His lead receiver was Gesicki, who totaled seven catches for 91 yards. 

The Chiefs' pass rush was the key to Burrow not completely keeping this game out of reach for Kansas City. They hit the former Heisman winner seven times and sacked him three times. Other than Conner, Wharton and Danna, defensive tackle Chris Jones and George Karlaftis also combined for a sack. While the Bengals were able to move the ball most of the day, it was the consistent pressure that allowed for timely stops. 

Linebackers Drue Tranquill, Nick Bolton and safety Justin Reid led the teams in tackles with seven and Bolton had a big tackle for loss and a key pass breakup. Those three, along with cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson had a lot to do with putting a cap on the Bengals offense. 

The biggest loss of this game came to fruition this morning when it was reported Pacheco fractured his fibula and will be out for the foreseeable future. Reid said last night he was undergoing x-rays after he was seen leaving in crutches and a walking boot. The Chiefs have Steele and Samaje Perine, but I would expect some sort of practice squad call-up or free agent signing as the Chiefs’ roster sat at 52 even before the injury. 

With the win the Chiefs move to 2-0 and the Bengals fall to 0-2 with Kansas City now holding the tiebreaker over them and the Baltimore Ravens. Next up the Chiefs face their first NFC foe in the 2024 season, as well as their first road game, facing off against the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) on Sunday Night Football.