In a rematch of Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs once again had the upper hand over the San Francisco 49ers, winning 28-18.
Patrick Mahomes scored a big touchdown on the ground with a one-yard run in a fourth-and-goal situation to preserve his team’s perfect record (6-0). After the Minnesota Vikings’ loss earlier Sunday, Kansas City is the only team still undefeated in the NFL.
Mahomes is now 5-0, including two Super Bowl victories, against the Niners (3-4) since becoming the Chiefs’ starting quarterback. This is the first time Mahomes has started a season with six consecutive victories.
The Chiefs quarterback, however, had a bad day by air. He completed 16 of his 27 passes for gains of just 154 yards, in addition to throwing two interceptions.
Brock Purdy, however, failed to take advantage of Mahomes’ poor performance. Purdy had a worse game than Mahomes throwing three interceptions, while being limited to 212 air yards. However, he reached the end zone twice with his legs.
With no passing game, the Chiefs ground attack had a big game. In addition to Mahomes’ touchdown, Kareem Hunt scored a double and Mecole Hardman added a fourth at the very end of the fourth quarter.
Already greatly burdened by injuries, the Niners may have lost another big piece. Brandon Aiyuk left the game in the second quarter after suffering a hard contact on his right leg.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that he was concerned his player might have torn his ACL. If so, his season would be over.
49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall played his first NFL game, 50 days after he was shot during a robbery attempt in downtown San Francisco.
Aged 23, Pearsall was selected in the first round (31st) of the draft last April by the 49ers. In his NFL debut, he caught three passes for 21 yards.
The Commanders make short work of the Panthers
Marcus Mariota replaced the injured Jayden Daniels early in the second quarter, Dante Fowler returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and the Washington Commanders easily defeated the Carolina Panthers 40-7 on Sunday.
The Commanders’ victory was put on the back burner in Washington due to the rib injury suffered by Daniels, who was one of the favorites for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
His mother, however, indicated on social networks that “he is doing well” and that it would have been useless to send him back into the fray with such a big gap on the scoreboard.
Daniels was also on the sidelines in the second half. He talked and joked with his teammates.
The Commanders (5-2) did well in his absence and were already leading when he left the game thanks to Fowler’s touchdown.
Washington’s defense was dominant, allowing just 180 yards and stopping seven of the Panthers’ 10 chances on third down. They also intercepted Andy Dalton twice.
With Mariota at quarterback, the Commanders amassed 421 yards against the Panthers (1-6). He finished the game with 18 of 23 completions for 205 yards and two touchdown passes to Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott.
Brian Robinson Jr. also had a rushing touchdown after missing the previous game with a knee injury.
Rams defense stands up in Vegas
Kamren Curl returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown and Kyren Williams ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-15 win for the Los Angeles Rams over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Cobie Durant had an interception and forced a fumble that led to Curl’s touchdown for the Rams (2-4), who forced four turnovers at the expense of Gardner Minshew. The backup quarterback was thrown into action when Aidan O’Connell suffered a hand injury early in the game.
Jaylen McCollough added two steals for the Rams, including one that sealed the result with 78 seconds left in the game.
Matthew Stafford passed for 154 yards for the Rams, who avoided a third straight loss in what was the team’s worst start to a season in eight years with Sean McVay as head coach.
Minshew helped the Raiders (2-5) advance 154 yards in relief of O’Connell, who did not return to the game after a collision with Curl during the club’s second possession.
The Raiders gained 317 yards in their first game since trading Davante Adams to the New York Jets, but had to settle for five field goals from Daniel Carlson after numerous turnovers or trouble in the penalty area .
This is a third loss in a row for the Raiders.
