KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With a playoff berth and the AFC West title already clinched, the Kansas City Chiefs inched closer to the No. 1 overall seed and a bye in the NFL playoffs with a 21-7 win Sunday at Cleveland.
Kansas City improved to 13-1, but the only thing that matters for Chiefs Kingdom is the health of Patrick Mahomes’ ankle.
“It’s not broken, but it’s sore,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game. “He’ll get started on the rehab part of it as we go, then we’ll just have to see how he does down the road here.”
Mahomes got battered in the second half behind a remade offensive line. He left the game with 7:57 remaining after getting sandwiched on a fourth-down incompletion before limping to the sideline to get his ankles re-taped.
He did not return to the game. Carson Wentz stepped in for the final two drives, including the two kneel-downs at the end.
"Now, we'll just get after the rehab part of it and try to get ready for next week," Mahomes said.
Kansas City finished with six takeaways, including four interceptions and a forced fumble on defense, and limited the Browns to 266 total yards.
The Chiefs also had five sacks — including two from George Karlaftis, who leads the club with seven, and one from Tershawn Wharton, who ranks second with 5.5 sacks.
“[Defensive line coach] Joe [Cullen] really stresses being able to rush the passer and the quality of that, and you saw that today,” Reid said.
Charles Omenihu also recorded a sack, while linebackers Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill shared one.
“I thought our defense just played tremendous football today throughout. We [allowed] the one big play. Other than that, man, it was a great job — all the takeaways and turnovers that we had," Reid said.
The Chiefs — who play two more games in the next 10 days, next Saturday against Houston at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and at Pittsburgh on Christmas Day — will have at least a two-game lead, possibly more depending on the Buffalo at Detroit and Steelers at Philadelphia results.
Kansas City could have a magic number of one by night’s end if the Bills and Steelers both lose, but they also have a short week to get Mahomes healthy.
O-LINE SHUFFLE
With D.J. Humphries sidelined with a hamstring injury, Pro Bowl left guard Joe Thuney slid out to left tackle, becoming the fourth starter at that spot this season, while Mike Caliendo stepped in at left guard.
“Thuney — asked to play left tackle, hasn’t done that since college — got out there and really battled and did a nice job against one of the best defensive ends in the game right now,” Reid said. “He battled his heart out.”
Rookie second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia started the first two games of the season at left tackle.
Wanya Morris replaced Suamataia for the final drive during a Week 2 win against Cincinnati and started Weeks 3 through 12.
After signing a few days before Thanksgiving, Humphries started at left tackle against the Chargers last week, but he suffered a hamstring injury late in the game and was inactive at the Browns.
That led to Thuney getting a chance.
“Joe had taken a couple snaps there last week and just felt comfortable,” Reid said. “He’s a veteran player. I had scouted him as a tackle, so I knew he could get out there and battle. He’s been an All-Pro at two other positions, so we gave him a chance at the tackle spot.”
For Caliendo, it was his 22nd career game and first start.
He appeared in eight games as a rookie last season, primarily on special teams aside from Week 18 at the Los Angeles Chargers with the Chiefs locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
“What a great experience that is for him to get out and get a full game in,” Reid said. “That’s going to help him down the road and us down the road.”
Caliendo had only played 23 offensive snaps — never more than seven in any game (Nov. 29 vs. Las Vegas) — in the first 13 games of the season.
The reconfigured offensive line worked well in the first half, but Cleveland’s pass rush started to get home in the third quarter.
Mahomes went 3 of 13 for 16 yards, misfiring on his final eight throws often under duress, during the third quarter.
The Browns racked up 12 quarterback hits against Mahomes, who left the game in the fourth quarter after spraining his right ankle.
What do those second-half struggles mean for the offensive line? Reid was noncommittal: “We’ll just see down the road how things go."
SPECIAL TEAMS TURNOVER
The Chiefs went three-and-out on the opening drive, but Browns return specialist James Proche, a practice-squad elevation, fumbled the ensuing punt.
Kansas City rookie cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace poked the ball away and running back Samaje Perine won the wrestling match at the bottom of the dogpile for possession.
The Chiefs punished the Browns three plays later for Proche’s gaffe when JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a short pass from Patrick Mahomes and won the race to the pylon, scoring a diving 7-yard touchdown.
Roland-Wallace, who stepped in on defense after Chamarri Conner suffered a concussion, finished with a game-high six tackles, including one for a loss.
TURNOVER FLOODGATES OPEN
Kansas City’s defense hasn’t been very good at creating turnovers in recent seasons, but they were Sunday in Cleveland.
Safety Bryan Cook snuffed out the Browns’ second drive with a leaping interception deep downfield as Jameis Winston tried to connect with Elijah Moore on a deep post.
Linebacker Nick Bolton picked off Winston on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, a ball that batted between Bolton and running back Nick Chubb.
After the Chiefs punished the turnover with a 21-yard Xavier Worthy touchdown run, Chubb fumbled on the Browns’ next snap from scrimmage for the fourth turnover of the game.
Kansas City entered the game with 10 turnovers, six interceptions and four forced fumbles, which was tied for the third-fewest in the NFL with the New York Giants and Jets. Only Jacksonville and Las Vegas, with eight turnovers each, had fewer.
The Chiefs would add two more interceptions but only scored after two of the six turnovers.
SPECIAL (NOT TEAMS) TURNOVER
With Kansas City’s offense bogged down, Cleveland finally scored on a 62-yard touchdown run by Jerome Ford and was driving again.
But Winston got picked off in the end zone for the second time.
Trying to find Michael Woods II on a go route, cornerback Trent McDuffie stayed in the receiver’s pocket on the route and snagged the pass for a touchback.
It was McDuffie’s first career interception in his 41st career game.
“Coming into this week, I think everybody knew that we had a good shot at getting some turnovers,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said, who also hasn't had a pick in seven career postseason games.
A former first-round pick from Washington in 2022, McDuffie was an All-Pro in 2023 and led the NFL with seven passes defended in the postseason a year ago.
SPECIAL (NOT TEAMS) TURNOVER II
The sixth and final turnover closed out the game when rookie safety Jaden Hicks picked off Browns backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who replaced Winston in the fourth quarter.
It was Hicks' second career pick. The first came in a Week 8 win at San Francisco.
Hicks, a Las Vegas native and rookie fourth-round pick from Washington State, also tied a career-high with three tackles. He had three tackles at Carolina, too.
BUTKER ASCENDS TO NFL’S BEST BEFORE MISS
Harrison Butker briefly became the most accurate kicker in NFL history while sitting out the last month.
The Chiefs’ eighth-year kicker ranked third on the league’s all-time list when he landed on injured reserve after making all three field goals in a 16-14 win against Denver.
Butker, who boasts an 89.21% career field-goal percentage, missed Kansas City’s next four games.
At the time, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker led the NFL with an 89.72% career field-goal percentage and Carolina’s Eddy Pineiro ranked second (89.38%).
But while Butker was sidelined, Tucker’s dismal season — he’s only 19 of 27 on field goals, a shocking 70.4% entering Sunday — continued. He missed four fields in the last four weeks, dropping his career percentage to 89.03%.
Meanwhile, Pineiro went 8 for 10, missing two field goals Dec. 1 in an overtime loss against Tampa Bay. He’s now made 88.62% of his field-goal tries.
Butker lost his place in NFL history when he missed a 29-yard field goal late in the closing seconds of the first half.
That dropped his career mark to 88.84%, which leaves him second again behind Tucker but still ahead of Pineiro.
Neither Tucker nor Pineiro attempted kicks Sunday.
REID RETAINS KICKOFF DUTY
After handling kickoff duties last week, safety Justin Reid continued in that role Sunday despite Butker’s return.
One advantage it gives Kansas City is putting another tackler on the field on kickoffs, though he missed a tackle on the second kickoff late in the first half as Jerome Ford dashed 45 yards to midfield.
INJURY UPDATE
In addition to Mahomes (ankle), nickel cornerback Chamarri Conner exited the game with a concussion after taking a knee to the head while trying to tackle Cleveland running back Nick Chubb.
“He’s doing well now, which is the most important thing,” Reid said of Conner, who was quickly ruled out with a concussion and will be in the NFL's Concussion Protocol this week.
UP NEXT
Kansas City plays its final regular-season home game Saturday against Houston.
Kickoff is set for noon.
The Chiefs-Texans game, which will air on KSHB 41 News, was moved up a day because both teams are playing the following Wednesday for Netflix’s Christmas Day doubleheader.
Kansas City is 9-5, including two playoff wins, all-time against Houston.
The Chiefs have won three consecutive games in the series, starting with the wild comeback in the Wild Card Round during the 2019 season, and are 3-2 against the Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
WAS TAYLOR SWIFT AT THE GAME?
Taylor Swift still hasn’t appeared at a Chiefs road game this season.
With the game in her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s hometown, Cleveland, it seemed possible that streak might end Sunday in Cleveland.
Alas, it did not.
Swift’s record-setting The Eras Tour ended Dec. 8 in Vancouver and the pop icon celebrated her 35th birthday Friday, one day after visiting sick kids at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Swift had attended every home game this season — wins against Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Denver and Las Vegas — before skipping last Sunday night’s win against the Chargers while performing in Vancouver.
The Chiefs are 16-3 during the last two seasons with Swift in attendance, including an 11-game win streak dating back to late last season.
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