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Chiefs hang on to beat Jets on Sunday Night Football with Taylor Swift at MetLife Stadium: Reaction and analysis
Zach Wilson’s career night not enough as Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs outlast Jets
The Kansas City Chiefs survived a full-game battle with the New York Jets to win 23-20 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Jets quarterback Zach Wilson had one of the strongest games of his career, completing 28 of 39 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his first career game with more than 23 completions and the first multi-touchdown, interception-free game of his three-year career.
- Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time league MVP, was arguably outplayed by the much-maligned Wilson. Mahomes finished with 203 yards on 18 of 30 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions.
- Wilson’s mistake-free night came to an end with 7:24 remaining in the fourth quarter when he fumbled a snap as the Jets were driving and looking to match the Chiefs’ fourth-quarter go-ahead score. New York drops to 1-3 with the loss.
- On the final drive of the game, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner was called for defensive holding on a controversial call that extended the Chiefs’ drive. A stop could’ve forced a Kansas City field goal attempt and given New York’s offense one last chance to score.
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Is Chiefs' ugly win evidence of a disjointed season or positive for the long run?
Walking off the field, Travis Kelce wanted to be honest. The scoreboards inside MetLife Stadium displayed the final score of Sunday night’s game, a score that could have made the All-Pro tight end satisfied: Kansas City Chiefs 23, New York Jets 20.
Kelce, however, was fuming. Although the Chiefs escaped their prime-time matchup with a victory that pushed their record to 3-1, Kelce didn’t want to sugarcoat the team’s performance, especially the offense, which scored just six points after the first quarter. Kelce, the franchise’s longest-tenured player, was upset about the turnovers, penalties and other mistakes that turned what could’ve been a blowout into an unsatisfying win.
Inside the Chiefs’ locker room, safety Justin Reid was trying to find the words to best capture the experience of Sunday’s game.
“I mean,” Reid said, pausing for a few seconds. “Everybody feels like we could’ve (done) some things better.”
Across the room, tight end Noah Gray had an even harder time with a similar question: Through four games, how would you describe this season?
“Um … I don’t know,” Gray said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
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Zach Wilson, Jets show signs of life in loss to Chiefs
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh walked to the lectern on Sunday night and gripped it so hard it should’ve snapped in half. There were moments when Saleh wasn’t speaking much, but his hands were. His right fist was clenched, and he’d knock on the lectern, as if all the things he wanted to say, to scream, were just beneath the surface. He tried to remain calm.
At the end of Sunday’s game to the Kansas City Chiefs, a 23-20 loss, Saleh was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for ripping into a referee after the Jets were called for a penalty that might’ve altered the outcome of a game that was far closer than anyone could’ve expected. The Jets had picked off Patrick Mahomes for the third time, only it was called back on a questionable defensive holding penalty, against cornerback Sauce Gardner.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Saleh said.
A few plays earlier, defensive end Jermaine Johnson was held by a Chiefs offensive lineman as Mahomes scrambled for 25 yards on third-and-23, but there was no flag. When reporters approached Johnson in the locker room, he looked ready to burst, staring at the ground, rageful. He was told to shower before answering any questions, to cool off.
Rage.
The Jets are mad. This was a game they could’ve won, should’ve won, against the defending Super Bowl champions. Zach Wilson outplayed Mahomes — yes, he really did. The way Wilson played, especially at the end of the first half, was good enough to inspire some hope for the rest of the season. That, maybe, Wilson could be good enough to keep the Jets afloat while they await Aaron Rodgers’ return, whether that’s this year (a pipe dream) or next. But a season is full of moments that can change its trajectory.
The Jets are 1-3 after four weeks. Any goodwill derived from Wilson’s performance against the Chiefs — and he deserves praise for it — will quickly evaporate if he can’t do it against the Broncos in Denver next week.
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Zach Wilson on fourth quarter fumble
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson took responsibility after his team's 23-20 loss to the Chiefs for his fumbled snap in the fourth quarter that turned the ball over to Kansas City. “That’s on me. Critical situation, I cannot have a play like that … I cannot do that. I lost us that game,” he said.
The Athletic Football Show recaps Week 4 LIVE
Join Robert Mays and Nate Tice on The Athletic Football Show as they break down what was a wild day around the NFL.
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Patrick Mahomes' slide ices win for Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes iced the Chiefs' 23-20 victory over the Jets with a 9-yard scramble, sliding down in bounds at the Jets' 2-yard line, which enabled Kansas City to run out the clock. The Chiefs improved to 3-1, joining the Bills, Dolphins and Ravens atop the AFC.
Andy Reid ties Tom Landry
Andy Reid matches Tom Landry on all-time regular-season wins list
The Chiefs close out the Jets 23-20 and with it comes some history for Kansas City head coach Andy Reid.
With tonight’s win over the Jets, Reid ties Hall-of-Fame coach Tom Landry for the fourth-most regular-season wins by a head coach in NFL history.
Most Regular-Season Wins by Head Coach - NFL History
Don Shula: 328
George Halas: 318
Bill Belichick: 299
Andy Reid: 250 <<
Tom Landry: 250
>> Includes Sunday
Jets’ Robert Saleh flagged
Jets coach Robert Saleh was furious after the fourth-quarter holding penalty on cornerback Sauce Gardner, and then got called for an unsportsmanlike penalty as the game came to a close. Jets fall to 1-3 in a 23-20 loss to the Chiefs that was much closer than most anticipated.
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Why the NFL is ‘leaning in’ to the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce relationship
There are two things you need to know right off the bat about Taylor Swift’s loyal legion of fans. There are tens of millions of “Swifties” all over the world. And they are a passionate, dedicated bunch.
“There is a lot of weight to what she does and a lot of weight to anything that she co-signs,” said Brittany Spanos, a Rolling Stone senior writer who taught a Taylor Swift course at NYU’s prestigious Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. “You see an artist that she is friends with or brings on tour or talks about their music, and that’s a huge boost to them. You see what happens when she wears certain designers or wears certain types of clothes, it just becomes a big moment.”
What she buys, they buy. What she supports, they do, too. So when Swift showed up tonight at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. to cheer on her new friend (?), Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, her legion of Swifties have followed, and it is, again, a big moment.
The buzz has rocked the NFL world and continues one of the most insane pop culture crossovers in NFL history.
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Chiefs a running team?
The Chiefs are averaging more yards per rush (7.6) than per pass attempt so far tonight (6.2).
Long way to go but the 1.4-yard differential would be the largest in any start of Patrick Mahomes’ NFL career.
The current high is -1.28 against the Seahawks in Week 16 of 2018 and Kansas City is 1-5 in six Mahomes starts with a negative YPA-YPR differential entering tonight.
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Chiefs stars haven't been themselves
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are not looking like themselves, but running back Isiah Pacheco is doing his part for the Chiefs. He now has more than 100 rushing yards, averaging 9.4 yards per carry. He also leads the team in receiving yards with two catches for 42 yards.
Zach Wilson could join quite a list
Zach Wilson enters this drive leading Patrick Mahomes in passing yards tonight 203 to 129 (+74).
Yards never tell the whole story, but consider this: The only QBs to outduel Mahomes head-to-head by at least 50 passing yards in a game over the past two seasons are:
- Tom Brady
- Justin Herbert
- Joe Burrow
- Jalen Hurts