Chiefs vs. Bengals: Mahomes shines as Chiefs beat Bengals, 38-17

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 38-17, in their first preseason game of the 2019 season.

Offense

• First drive: Patrick Mahomes came onto the field like a man on a mission. In his first three plays, Mahomes found Travis Kelce for 36 yards, Sammy Watkins for 7 yards and Blake Bell for 23 yards. Bell looks like the current favorite for the TE2. Mahomes had a wild 10-yard scramble to get the Chiefs to the 1 (he had to slide before he had his head taken off), and Carlos Hyde finished the job for the score.

• Second drive: Chad Henne came in after Mahomes’ perfect 4/4 drive. He only lasted five plays, including an 18-yard pass to Deon Yelder, who had to match Bell after his strong showing. The Chiefs replaced Henne with Kyle Shurmur as the game turned to quarter two. Darwin Thompson showcased some elusiveness, compiling 21 yards on the drive. Shumur shoveled a pass to Mecole Hardman on an end-around, and he sped his way 17 yards for the score.

• Third drive: Shurmur and the Chiefs offense began the drive backed up on their own 2, but a quick 14-yard pass to Bell on a slant got them out of trouble. H-back John Lovett caught a 22-yard pass on the right sideline and toe-tapped to stay in bounds. Hardman added another 14 yards before the Chiefs punted.
• Fourth drive: Pass interference on the Bengals pushed the Chiefs to the Cincinnati 29-yard line, and Marcus Kemp got onto the stat sheet with a 9-yard catch. Harrison Butker’s 35-yard field goal is good.
• Fifth drive: Shurmur stayed on the field to start the second half. Chiefs would have had a first down on a 15-yard quarterback scramble, but Cam Erving took a holding call, and the Chiefs would have to punt.
• Sixth drive: Chase Litton came on after a muffed Bengals punt gave the Chiefs the short field at the Bengals 19. Ryan Hunter’s offensive holding backed the Chiefs up 10 yards, but Litton found Darwin Thompson in the middle of the field for a 29-yard score on the next play.

• Seventh drive: Cody Thompson finally got into the mix with two catches for 19 yards, but Hardy Nickerson intercepted Litton to end the drive.
• Eighth drive: Three-and-out for the Chiefs. Litton was sacked for 6 yards on third down.
• Ninth drive: After a muffed punt recovered by tight end Nick Keizer, the Chiefs begin the drive at the Cincinnati 35-yard line. Marcus Marshall rushed for 7 yards, followed by a good catch by Jamal Custis for 14 yards. The next play, Litton connected with Yelder for a 14-yard touchdown.

• 10th drive: Litton’s drive was ruined by penalties by offensive linemen Zach Golditch and Chidi Okeke. The Chiefs punted after nine plays.
• 11th drive: Running back Josh Caldwell had the longest rush of the night — a 47-yard run to bring the Chiefs to Cincinnati’s 4-yard line. Caldwell finished the job the next play, scoring a 4-yard touchdown.

Defense

• First drive: It at first looked as if the defense got off to a blazing hot start. Kendall Fuller forced Tyler Boyd a fumble, picked the ball up, fumbled it himself, and Daniel Sorensen recovered. Upon second look, Boyd n ever had control of the football on the catch, so the play was ruled incomplete. The Chiefs began rotating players out of the secondary rather quickly—only a couple plays for Chris Jones and Tyrann Mathieu. The positive is cornerback Bashaud Breeland recorded a diving pass breakup that would have been a touchdown. The negative was that the Chiefs allowed five first downs, including a 13-yard catch in which running back Trayveon Williams beat Charvarius Ward to bring Cincinnati to the 1. Two plays later, the Bengals scored on a Williams run.
• Second drive: The Bengals pulled Andy Dalton after the first drive for Jeff Driskel. That meant a much easier time for the defense, which forced a three-and-out.
• Third drive: The drive started with two stops from Armani Watts and Herb Miller, but Darron Lee was called for illegal holding on third down, extending the drive. Offensive holding backed the Bengals up, and the Chiefs forced the Bengals to punt. Mark Fields had a pass breakup on third down.
• Fourth drive: Another forced three-and-out for the Chiefs’ reserves. Justin Hamilton had a tackle.
• Fifth drive: Back-to-back sacks by Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks forces fourth down. With five seconds on the clock, Driskel bombed a Hail Mary to the end zone—it was caught by Herb Miller, who returned the ball 67 yards before being forced out of bounds.
• Sixth drive: Cornerback D’Montre Wade was thrown out of the game for a helmet-to-helmet hit. The drive resulted in a 47-yard field goal.
• Seventh drive: Third-string quarterback Ryan Finley entered the game for Cincinnati. At this point in the game, the Chiefs defense featured many reserve players. Rashad Fenton showed nice effort to push Hunter Sharp out before the first-down marker and force fourth down. Punt.
• Eighth drive: Andrew Soroh almost spoiled a methodical 9-play, 67-yard drive by Finley, but he could not come up with an interception on the second-to-last play of the drive. Jordan Ellis finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown.
• Ninth drive: Rob McCray registered a sack on first down, and the Bengals went three-and-out.
• 10th drive: Michael Hunter, who recently signed with the Chiefs in the middle of training camp, intercepted Finley.

Special teams

• Tremon Smith took the first kick return for the Chiefs and later fielded a punt, and Mecole Hardman took the first punt return of the game.
• On the punt team for Hardman in the second quarter, Marcus Kemp took an offensive holding penalty, backing the Chiefs up to their own 2. Davon Grayson was called for a 15-yard low block penalty in the third quarter.
• The best kick returns of the game were in the third quarter—Hardman gained 44 yards before being pushed out of bounds to start the half and Byron Pringle returned a kick 50 yards after the Bengals’ field goal.
• Rashard Davis fielded a punt for 11 yards in the third quarter and returned a kick 32 yards in the fourth quarter. He had another punt opportunity in the fourth quarter.
• Dustin Colquitt and Jack Fox had two punts apiece, with Fox putting two inside the 20 to Colquitt’s one.

The quarterbacks

• Patrick Mahomes: 4/4, 66 yards, 118.8 passer rating | 1 rush for 10 yards
• Chad Henne: 2/4, 26 yards, 70.8 passer rating | 1 rush for six yards
• Kyle Shurmur: 6/15, 77 yards and a touchdown, 79.0 rating
• Chase Litton: 11/15, 122 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, 108.9 rating | 3 rushes for -4 yards

Injury updates

• The Chiefs announced that John Lovett left the game with a separated right shoulder. Wide receiver Davon Grayson hurt his knee.
• The players of note who did not participate as they recover from injuries: DL Frank Clark (wrist), WR Gehrig Dieter (back), DL Emmanuel Ogbah (oblique), DL Alex Okafor (hip), RB Damien Williams (hamstring)

Game Stats

Preseason Schedule

Regular Season Schedule