The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 33-30, in an overtime thriller on Sunday night.
Knotted at 30 points apiece and facing a short third down, tailback Ken Walker hauled in a quick pass and maneuvered through traffic for a 22-yard gain deep into Colts territory. The play set up a manageable, 40-yard field goal attempt for kicker Harrison Butker, who connected on the game-winning kick just a few snaps later.
“It was a battle to the end there,” said Head Coach Andy Reid. “I’m glad we came out with a win. That’s well-deserved by the guys for persevering through it.”
Indeed, Butker’s kick was the knockout blow in a back-and-forth game that featured nearly a dozen lead changes or ties throughout.
Indianapolis had the early lead with a 65-yard touchdown drive to open the game, but Kansas City quickly responded with 10 unanswered points on its first two possessions. The later series in that sequence – which culminated in a 13-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce – was set up by an interception courtesy of cornerback Kristian Fulton deep in Indianapolis territory.
The score was part of a strong night for Kelce, who caught nine passes for 101 yards on the evening. It marked Kelce’s 37th 100-yard outing since 2016, which ranks third among all players in that span.
The Colts then answered Kelce’s score with a pair of field goals that pushed Indianapolis back in front, but Mahomes proceeded to reclaim the lead when he found wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 1-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
Despite that effort by Mahomes, who completed 32-of-47 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns in the game, Colts tailback Jonathan Taylor then quickly erased that advantage when he scampered for a 24-yard score in the closing seconds of the first half.
It was looking as if the back-and-forth struggle may trend in the Colts’ favor as the third quarter unfolded, too, but Mahomes – facing a 3rd-and-11 at midfield – found wide receiver Tyquan Thornton for a 45-yard gain that set the Chiefs up with tremendous field position just outside the end zone.
Mahomes connected with wide receiver Jalen Royals for the second-year pass-catcher’s first-career touchdown a handful of snaps later – on fourth down, no less – and, once again, the lead changed hands.
“I think guys just were resilient and we just strained to finish as [Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy] talks about,” Mahomes said. “It wasn’t always pretty, there were times where we didn’t execute at a high level, but guys continued to fight and continued to push.”
Butker added a field goal on Kansas City’s next possession, pushing the Chiefs’ advantage to seven points, but – as was the theme of the night – Indianapolis wasn’t done. Taylor broke free for a 5-yard touchdown run with just over five minutes remaining, and yet again, the two teams found themselves all tied up on the scoreboard.
Each team recorded a punt over the final few minutes of regulation, which included a critical stop by Kansas City’s defense at midfield that kept Indianapolis just out of range for a potential game-winning field goal, and – for the second time in the last 12 months – a matchup between the Chiefs and Colts went to overtime.
Kansas City – aided by another tremendous catch by Thornton on a long third down – opened the additional period with a go-ahead field goal, but because the Chiefs only managed three points, Indianapolis now had an opportunity to end the game.
Fortunately for Kansas City, despite yielding a 50-yard completion on the first play of the Colts’ series, the Chiefs’ defense corralled three consecutive rushing attempts and forced Indianapolis to settle for a game-tying field goal with just over three minutes left on the clock.
Mahomes then took over with the ability to finally end the teeter-totter of a game for good, and upon finding Walker for the aforementioned 22-yard gain, the night ending with Butker’s right leg seemed inevitable.
The kick sailed through the uprights, and following a thrilling matchup that featured its fair share of highs and lows, Kansas City emerged victorious for the second week in a row to begin the season.
“The guys did a nice job of pushing through and not getting down,” Reid said. “I mean, [there were] things that were obvious in today’s game – an obvious look where we could have really sunk and felt sorry for ourselves on that last [Colts] catch [in overtime] – but no, they didn’t do that.”
Walker’s contributions in the final moments seemed fitting following another enormous game for the veteran tailback, which included 117 rushing yards to go along with six grabs for 61 receiving yards.
Notably, through two weeks, Walker continues to lead the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 369 – 70 yards more than the next closest player.
In terms of injuries, the Chiefs came out of the game with a clean bill of health.
Next up, Kansas City will hit the road for the first time this season for a matchup against the Miami Dolphins this upcoming Sunday afternoon.
