Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs fought out a 27-20 victory at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday while the powerful offenses of the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins fired their teams to 4-1 records.
The Chiefs suffered a scare when star tight-end Travis Kelce had to leave the field with a non-contact ankle injury after completing a catch near the end of the first half, which ended 13-13.
But Kelce, in the headlines due to his relationship with pop singer Taylor Swift, returned to the field in the third quarter and promptly caught a Mahomes touchdown pass to put the Chiefs 27-13 up.
Alexander Mattison caught a nine-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to bring the Vikings within seven points in the fourth but the Chiefs defense held firm on the final two possessions for Minnesota.
Mahomes has now defeated all 31 opposition teams in the NFL making him the first quarterback to have achieved that landmark before the age of 30.
The 28-year-old threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns as the Chiefs moved to 4-1 on the season, with their solitary loss so far in week one against the Lions.
That loss looks less of a shock now given the subsequent strong form of the Lions and their quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns as Detroit crushed the Carolina Panthers 42-24.
Despite some key injury absentees, the Lions dominated from the outset with two touchdowns in the first quarter — a 43-yard rush from David Montgomery and a four-yard pass from Goff to Sam LaPorta.
LaPorta connected on another touchdown pass, from 31 yards, in the second quarter to make it 28-7 and the Lions never looked back from then on.
The Lions’ formidable defense also made a major contribution, forcing three turnovers.
“It was just an outstanding job by the players, complimentary football,” said Campbell.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns as the Dolphins, defeated the struggling New York Giants 31-16.
Miami’s offense has been on fire this season and they put themself in charge with a first quarter touchdown catch from Jaylen Waddle and extended their advantage early in the second with a brilliant 76-yard rush from De’Von Achane.
Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill with a 69-yard pass at the start of the third and made sure of the win with Raheem Mostert’s two-yard rush.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J Stroud set a new record for passes without interception at the start of his career when he reached 177 passes without being picked off.
But the Texans fell to a 21-19 loss at the Atlanta Falcons with a game-winning field goal in the final seconds from Koo Younghoe.
The Jacksonville Jaguars secured back-to-back wins in London with an impressive 25-20 win over the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Bills came into the game on the back of a three-game winning streak but Jags running back Travis Etienne rushed in two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take Jacksonville to 3-2 on the season.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 315 yards and a touchdown while his counterpart Josh Allen put up 359 passing yards and threw a second-quarter touchdown pass before a late three-yard rush as the Bills tried in vain to fight back.
The miserable season for the New England Patriots continued with a 34-0 home loss to the New Orleans Saints leaving Bill Belichick’s team with a 1-4 record, their worst start since the coach’s first season 23 years ago.
Quarterback Mac Jones was benched in the second half of what was the second worst shutout loss in franchise history, having thrown two interceptions including one returned for a touchdown.
It was the fourth ‘pick-six’ that Jones has thrown on home field at Gillette Stadium, the same amount that former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw in 17 years.
But despite taking his quarterback out for the second straight game, Belichick said he remained the team’s starter.
“Yeah, there were other problems, it certainly wasn’t all on him,” Belichick said
Later on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys are in action at the San Francisco 49ers.
