Patrick Mahomes threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns and the Kansas City Chiefs held off the Miami Dolphins 21-14 Sunday in the first NFL game played in Frankfurt, Germany.
Bryan Cook’s fumble return for a touchdown just before halftime proved to be the game-winning score for the Chiefs (7-2), who earned what may prove to be a crucial win for playoff seeding tiebreakers with the Dolphins (6-3).
The Dolphins trailed 21-0 at halftime but scored twice late in the third quarter. Their nearly 8-minute drive in the fourth quarter yielded zero points when it was thwarted by a 6-yard tackle for loss by Willie Gay and an 11-yard sack by Tershawn Wharton.
Miami forced a three-and-out and got one more chance with the ball and 2:28 left. But on fourth-and-10 at the Chiefs’ 31, an errant snap glanced off Tua Tagovailoa’s fingertips and he could only fall on the ball.
Mahomes completed 20 of 30 passes, including touchdowns to Rashee Rice and Jerick McKinnon. Isiah Pacheco rushed 16 times for 66 yards.
For Miami, Tagovailoa went 21-of-34 passing for 193 yards and a touchdown. Raheem Mostert took 12 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown, and Tyreek Hill caught eight passes for 62 yards in his first game against his former team.
The Chiefs rolled 75 yards in seven plays on their opening drive, culminating in Mahomes’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
The teams combined to punt on their next seven drives before Kansas City forged a 13 play, 95-yard drive that ate up 8:28 of game time. McKinnon caught a pass in open space and carried it in for a 17-yard touchdown with 2:31 left in the half.
Miami went into its two-minute offense and reached the Chiefs’ 30-yard line before Hill caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and Trent McDuffie forced him to fumble. Mike Edwards recovered for the Chiefs and Hill tried to drag him down, so he pitched it back to Cook, who galloped 59 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
After a three-and-out to start the second half, Miami’s offense finally got the big play it needed. Tagovailoa lofted a 31-touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson Jr. with 4:47 left in the third quarter for a touchdown.
Bradley Chubb came through with a strip-sack of Mahomes on the Chiefs’ next possession, and Zach Sieler of the Dolphins recovered at the Kansas City 27. Four plays later, Mostert swept left for a 13-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to seven with 22 seconds left in the third.
The Dolphins, known for their explosive offense this season, were held to a season-low in points and went 3-for-12 on third downs.
–Field Level Media