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Chiefs overcome red zone issues with win over Saints, 5-0 start

VaselineOctober 8, 2024

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Chiefs overcome red zone issues with win over Saints, 5-0 start

It wasn’t the prettiest victory.

But it was a win nonetheless, as the Kansas City Chiefs earned a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night. With the win, the Chiefs improved to 5–0 and joined the Minnesota Vikings as the only other undefeated NFL team through the first five weeks of the season.

The Chiefs controlled the game and were by far the better team on both sides of the ball. But the battle in the red zone allowed the Saints to stay close late in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs scored a single touchdown in addition to three field goals and a goal-line interception in their first five trips to the red zone. But they broke through late in the game for their second touchdown on a three-yard run by Xavier Worthy to ice the victory.

The Saints leave the game with a loss and concerns about quarterback Derek Carr, who left for the locker room in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury. Details about his condition were not immediately clear. With the loss, New Orleans drops to 2-3 after a 2-0 start.

LIVE DECLARATION IS OVER42 updates

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 05:18 GMT+2

The Saints turn the ball over on downs, and the Chiefs are able to run out the clock. This one is ready. Dominating both sides of the ball, the Chiefs overcame red zone struggles to improve to 5-0 with a 26-13 win.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 05:11 GMT+2

The Chiefs just milked 6:29 off the game clock and kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 26-13. This one is almost over and there is still 3:03 left in regulation. Jake Haener is the quarterback for New Orleans due to the injured Derek Carr.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 05:02 GMT+2

Derek Carr goes to the locker room

Derek Carr was just walking to the locker room after a trip to the sideline medical tent. ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported that the Saints are calling it an oblique injury. He’s officially questionable, but it seems unlikely he’ll return later in the fourth quarter of a two-possession game.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:53 GMT+2

The Saints just went for it on fourth-and-8 at their own 41. Derek Carr threw a perfect deep ball to Mason Tipton, but Tipton couldn’t reel it in. The Chiefs take over on downs and lead 23-13 with 9:32 remaining.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:45 GMT+2

Chiefs respond with 2nd TD in 6 trips to the red zone

This time they did not fall short. The Chiefs are back in the end zone on a 3-yard run by Xavier Worthy after a direct pass to Travis Kelce. A 50-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to JuJu Smith-Schuster set up the score. The Chiefs extend their lead to 23-13 and may have averted disaster.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:40 GMT+2

The Chiefs are back in the red zone on a 50-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Will they find the end zone this time?
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:39 GMT+2

This game shouldn’t be close. But five trips to the red zone have yielded just one touchdown for the Chiefs. They also settled for three field goals and turned the ball over at the goal line on Khalen Saunders’ interception.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:37 GMT+2

Saints take advantage of Saunders’ interception

The Saints converted Khalen Saunders’ goal-line interception into a touchdown and turned it into a ball game. New Orleans marches 65 yards on eight plays and caps the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Foster Moreau.

Blake Grupe’s extra point misses the target, but the Saints cut their deficit to 16-13 with 14:13 remaining.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:25 GMT+2

Khalen Saunders with the big man pick

Saints create huge turnovers at the goal line. Patrick Mahomes looked at JuJu Smith-Schuster on third-and-goal from the 2, but Smith-Schuster juggled the ball and left it hanging in the air.

Khalen Saunders was there to get it. The Saints defensive tackle grabbed the ball out of the air and rumbled from the end zone to the New Orleans 35-yard line.

What a play. New Orleans is still in this thing somehow. Chiefs lead 16-7 late in the third quarter.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:18 GMT+2

A huge penalty puts the Chiefs in the red zone. Patrick Mahomes took a deep look at Xavier Worthy from the Kansas City 39-yard line. Paulson Adebo ran over Worthy before the ball arrived. Adebo was assessed a 46-yard pass interference penalty.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:11 GMT+2

The Chiefs swarmed Derek Carr on third-and-12 and sacked him for an eight-yard loss. The Saints punt after failing to take advantage of good field position. The Chiefs lead 16-7 midway through the third quarter.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 04:06 GMT+2

The Chiefs come up empty on their first drive of the second half. A deep ball to Xavier Worthy falls incomplete on third down, and Harrison Butker misses a 51-yard field goal attempt. The Saints take over in midfield.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:57 GMT+2

The second half is in full swing. The Chiefs kick off the second half with a 16-7 lead.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:52 GMT+2

Notable halftime stats

Patrick Mahomes cooks. He has completed 19 of 27 passes for 216 yards in one half of football. But he was unable to find the end zone.

-Kareem Hunt has 12 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown
-Travis Kelce has eight catches for 67 yards
-JuJu Smith-Schuster has five catches for 67 yards
-No other Chiefs player has more than one catch

Derek Carr is 9 of 14 for 84 yards with one touchdown and one interception. More than half of his yardage came on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed

-Alvin Kamara has 6 carries for 18 yards
-Shaheed has two catches for 58 yards and a touchdown

-Chiefs first downs: 15
-Saint’s first downs: 5
– Chiefs total yards: 277
– Total yards of saints: 112
-Chiefs yards per game: 6.3
-Holy yards per play: 5.1
– Chiefs time of possession: 19:31
-Holy time of possession: 10:31
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:45 GMT+2

The Chiefs are in control of the ball and the game, more so than their 16-7 lead at halftime would suggest. But they have allowed a wide touchdown and have fallen just short of the end zone on three of their four trips to the red zone, allowing the Saints to stay within striking distance.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:42 GMT+2

The Chiefs fall short again in the red zone and settle for another Harrison Butker field goal attempt. Butker connected from 28 yards out to extend the Kansas City lead to 16-7. That should be it for the first half. There are six seconds left on the clock.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:36 GMT+2

The Saints burned for 22 seconds before punting back to the Chiefs on a 3-and-out. The Chiefs have a chance to score another goal before halftime. Kansas City leads 13-7 with 58 seconds left in the half.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:30 GMT+2

A sack by Patrick Mahomes puts the Chiefs on third-and-14 and ultimately forces Kansas City to settle for a field goal. Harrison Butker covers from 34 yards, and the Chiefs extend their lead to 13-7 with 1:32 left before halftime.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:27 GMT+2

And now the Chiefs have a first. They finished in second and 34th place after a holding penalty. On third-and-22, Travis Kelce caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes on a crossing route and lateraled the ball to Samaje Perine.

Perine then carried the ball two meters in front of the sticks. The Chiefs went four times on fourth-and-2 and converted. What a play.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 03:22 GMT+2

Alontae Taylor just blew up a Chiefs play in the backfield and possibly short-circuited a Kansas City drive that had moved into Saints territory. Put Kansas City second and 24th. Chiefs running back Carson Steele lost the ball a week after a fumble landed him on the bench. Xaiver Worthy rebounded for the Chiefs.