The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up the preseason on Friday, and while the three-time defending AFC champions ultimately fell to the Chicago Bears on a last-second touchdown, there were still an abundance of positives to build on heading into the regular season.
In fact, when the Chiefs' starters were in the game, Kansas City raced out to a 17-point lead following three impressive drives led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs' veteran quarterback, who logged his first preseason appearance since early in Week 1, completed 8-of-13 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown across his 21 total snaps.
Mahomes engineered a 69-yard scoring drive on the Chiefs' opening possession of the game that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown plunge by tailback Isiah Pacheco. Kansas City then added a field goal on its second drive before Mahomes completed his evening with a 4-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Rashee Rice on the Chiefs' third series.
In total, Mahomes spread the ball around to six different receivers as part of his night, which included a 58-yard completion to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton on Kansas City's second possession. It was one of five completions for Mahomes that picked up double-digit yardage.
"[If] defenses are going to play us the way they have [over the] last few years, we [have] to be able to win on the outside," Mahomes said. "In order to be the best version of ourselves, we have to be able to prove game-by-game that we can hit these deep passes, and if we do that, is opens up the rest of the offense and everybody can get going."
The first-team offense certainly established that deep passing attack on Friday, and while Kansas City was piling up points, the first-team defense held Chicago's starters to only 22 total yards (and zero points) across its first two possessions. Defensive linemen Chris Jones and Charles Omenihu put an exclamation point on that effort when they met at Bears' quarterback Caleb Williams for a sack late in Chicago's second series.
The Chiefs then began to rotate their reserve players onto the field as the game went on, and to Chicago's credit, the Bears outscored Kansas City by 19 points the rest of the way.
The Bears' final score, which put Chicago ahead for the first time all night, took place with just three seconds remaining on the clock. It was a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise exciting performance, but as the Chiefs aim to trim down the roster by early next week, the final three quarters on Friday provided one last final evaluation of those fighting to stick around.
"We got to play everybody – that was a positive," said Head Coach Andy Reid. "Some of these guys have been busting their tail throughout camp, and our [third team] and [fourth team] had a chance to go up against their [second team], and [that was] a great experience for them."
In terms of injury news, Coach Reid reported following the game that the Chiefs escaped on Friday with a clean bill of health.
Next up, the Chiefs will need to trim their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday ahead of the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 5.
