Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will not go unbeaten in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The Las Vegas Raiders sent the Chiefs to their first loss since Nov. 10 of last season at Tennessee — ending KC’s 13-game winning streak, including last year’s postseason run to the NFL title — with a 40-32 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It’s a learning lesson, if you don’t play your best football you can lose football games in this league,” Mahomes said. “We tried to battle at the end, but when you don’t play at a high level against good football teams, you’re gonna lose.”
Derek Carr threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns to outduel Mahomes, highlighted by a 72-yard strike in the second quarter to rookie first-round pick Henry Ruggs III.
Josh Jacobs also scored twice in the second half for the Raiders (3-2), who converted a fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 44-yard line on a sneak by Carr to seal the game with less than two minutes remaining.
Derek CarrGetty Images“Not with No. 15 standing over there. We did not want to give Mahomes another crack at it,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said when asked if he considered punting in that situation. “I marveled at the plays Derek made, and I certainly marvel at what Mahomes is able to do. … Thank God we don’t have to see them for a few weeks [Nov. 22].”
Mahomes registered two touchdown passes and ran for another score, but he also was picked off for the first time this season by Raiders safety Jeff Heath on a fourth-down pass with 5:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Seattle Phew!
The Seahawks barely avoided being the second 4-0 team to suffer its first defeat Sunday.
Russell Wilson completed a 94-yard touchdown drive with a 6-yard scoring strike to a diving DK Metcalf on fourth down with 15 seconds remaining to lift Seattle to its fifth straight win, 27-26, over Minnesota.
Seattle’s defense had stuffed Alexander Mattison on a fourth-and-1 at the Seahawks 6-yard line with 2:00 left, when Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer bypassed a short field-goal attempt that would have extended the Vikings lead to eight points.
Running back Dalvin Cook left in the third quarter with a groin injury, but Mattison finished with a career-high 112 rushing yards for Minnesota (1-4).
693 Days Later
Five weeks into the season, the Los Angeles Rams have defeated all four teams in the NFC East, improving to 4-1 with a 30-10 win over Washington (1-4).
But this game was more significant due to the return to action of veteran quarterback Alex Smith for the first time since he suffered a gruesome broken leg nearly two years ago.
The 36-year-old Smith underwent 17 surgeries on his leg and nearly had it amputated due to a serious infection since he was injured on Nov. 18, 2018 against Houston. The 14-year veteran replaced Kyle Allen, who suffered a head injury in the second quarter of his first start in place of benched and inactive Dwayne Haskins.
“It was very surreal at first. For it to happen as fast as it did was probably almost a blessing,” Smith said. “It was kind of nice in that sense, not having to think about it. … just going out and playing.”
Smith had little success moving the ball against Aaron Donald (four of LA’s eight sacks) and the Rams defense, which limited Smith to just 37 passing yards on 17 attempts.
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“The first [hit] felt good. I’ve been waiting for that a long time,” Smith said. “It was nice to know you’re fine and to kind of knock the cobwebs off, so to speak.”
Jared Goff (309 yards) flipped scoring passes to Robert Woods and Darrell Henderson and also had a 2-yard scoring run.
Thrill Of The Chase
Steelers rookie Chase Claypool — the 11th wide receiver taken and the 49th overall pick in the 2020 draft — hauled in three touchdown receptions from Ben Roethlisberger and added a rushing touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 38-29 win over Philadelphia.
“Nothing to this magnitude, something like this you can never predict,” said Claypool, who had totaled only six receptions over his first three NFL games. “You always go into the game thinking you’ll have a really big day, but I never would’ve predicted this.”
Jimmy G Sits
San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo returned after missing two games with an ankle injury, but he was pulled at halftime of the 49ers’ ugly 43-17 road loss to Miami.
Jimmy G completed seven of 17 passes for 77 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble before C.J. Beathard replaced him to start the third quarter for the Niners (2-3).
Ryan Fitzpatrick had a Fitz-magical day for the Dolphins (2-3), going 22-for-28 for 350 yards and three touchdown passes.
The Hurt Locker
Washington coach Ron Rivera said after the game that Allen, who was injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, will return as the starter over Smith if he’s healthy enough to play next week against the Giants.
In addition to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s
, Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones (biceps), Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader (quad), Chiefs left guard Kelechi Osemele (both knees) are all expected to miss significant time.
Post Patterns
The Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff Sunday after falling to 0-5 start with a 23-16 loss to Carolina. … Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater posted 313 yards through the air with TD passes to wideout D.J. Moore and running back Mike Davis (149 yards from scrimmage) for Carolina (3-2). … Falcons running back Todd Gurley ran for 121 yards, including a 35-yard TD. … Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson had a season-high 359 passing yards and three TD passes in Houston’s first win, 30-14, over Jacksonville (1-4). Texans receiver Brandin Cooks added eight receptions for 161 yards and a 28-yard TD. … Jaguars safety Josh Jones was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cooks. … Ravens quarterback and reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson was limited to 180 passing yards and three rushing yards, but Baltimore’s defense sacked Bengals rookie Joe Burrow seven times in a 27-3 victory to improve to 4-1. … Browns safety Ronnie Harrison’s 45-yard pick-six against Colts quarterback Philip Rivers led Cleveland (4-1) to a 32-23 win over Indianapolis (3-2). … Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, already questionable with an ankle injury, will be benched Monday against the Chargers after getting into a practice fight last week with teammate Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Three Stars
1. Chase Claypool, Steelers WR
The rookie second-round pick out of Notre Dame scored four TDs, including three on seven receptions (110 yards), in Pittsburgh’s 38-29 win over Philadelphia.
Chase Claypool celebrates scoring a touchdown.AP2. Derek Carr, Raiders QB
Carr outgunned Patrick Mahomes with a 22-for-31 day for 347 yards and three scoring tosses in Las Vegas’s 40-32 upset win at Kansas City.
3. Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers QB
Bridgewater had another big day with Christian McCaffrey sidelined, throwing for 313 yards and two TDs in Carolina’s 23-16 win over Atlanta.
Fantasy Insanity
- Chase Claypool is only on around 10 percent of fantasy rosters. Only a few of that 10 percent would have started him in Week 5, so chances are, his huge breakout game — 7-for-110, three TDs, plus a rushing TD (42.6 PPR fantasy points) didn’t cost you a fantasy win this week. And he was owned in fewer than 2 percent of DFS rosters. So you might not have won big money, but failing to use him didn’t automatically push you out of the green zone. Claypool’s explosion likely deflates JuJu Smith-Schuster’s value. Good time to buy low.
- Former sixth-round pick and Lions castoff Travis Fulgham might have found a home. In just his second appearance with the Eagles, he had 10 catches for 152 yards and a TD on 13 targets. On a team with few receiving options, Fulgham’s volume alone is worth waiver interests.
- Brandin Cooks had more production Sunday (8-for-161, one TD) than he did in the first four games combined (10-138-0). Little late for that, pal. We already dropped you. We’ll target Claypool and Fulgham before aiming to reacquire Cooks.
- Dak Prescott suffered what looked like a season-ending ankle injury Sunday. Enter Andy Dalton. With offensive talent around him, he becomes a viable back-end QB1. We would rather have Dalton than, say, Jimmy Garoppolo.
— Drew Loftis
