KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns, the Kansas City defense shut down Sam Darnold and the inept Jets offense, and the Chiefs romped to a 35-9 victory over winless New York on Sunday.
Tyreek Hill had 98 yards receiving and two touchdowns, Travis Kelce finished with 109 yards and another score, and Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson also reached the end zone as the Chiefs (7-1) gave Andy Reid his 229th win to move into a tie with Hall of Fame coach Curly Lambeau for the fifth most in NFL history.
Le’Veon Bell, getting a crack at the Jets just a few weeks after they released him, was held to just 7 yards rushing with three catches for another 31 yards — though it wasn’t as if Kansas City needed him.
Darnold, who was without top receivers Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman because of injuries, was just 18 of 30 for 133 yards as the Jets fell to 0-8 for the first time since the 1996 team of Rich Kotite.
New York went three-and-out on five of its first six second-half possessions and finished with 221 yards total offense.
The Chiefs were astounding 19-point favorites coming into the game, and the opening series made it clear that wouldn’t be nearly enough. Mahomes was 5 of 5 for 85 yards, and he finished off the 90-yard drive with a 30-yard pass to Hardman.
While the Jets answered with the first of three first-half field goals, the Chiefs kept scoring touchdowns.
Mahomes threw a dart over the middle to Tyreek Hill for a 36-yard touchdown on their next drive, then he flipped a nifty pass underneath the Jets coverage to Kelce for his third TD pass of the half and a 21-9 lead at the break.
Any hope the Jets could keep building some momentum with offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains calling plays for the second straight week evaporated in the second half. They went three-and-out on four of their first three series and, when they finally picked up a first down, they promptly fumbled the ball away on their next play.
It wasn’t unlike last week, when New York managed 4 yards the entire second half against Buffalo.
There wasn’t much lull in the Chiefs offense, though. They may have squandered a scoring chance when Bell was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Jets 14, but they reached the end zone a few minutes later anyway. Mahomes hit Robinson from 26 yards out for his fourth TD pass, giving Kansas City a 28-9 lead late in the third quarter.
Mahomes capped his big day with his second touchdown throw to Hill early in the fourth. His five TD passes were second only to a pair of six-TD games he had against the Steelers and Rams — incidentally, the Jets have four touchdown passes all season — and his yardage total was the fourth most of his career.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Chiefs got a couple big plays on special teams. The first came when Tommy Townsend threw a pass to Byron Pringle on a faked fourth-down punt to keep their second TD drive alive, and the second came when Armani Watts blocked a 47-yard field-goal attempt by Sergio Castillo to end the first half.
INJURIES
