Chiefs overcome shaky first half to beat Commanders 28-7 on Monday Night Football

By MATT PIKE

The Kansas City Chiefs overcame a shaky first half, putting up 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Washington Commanders 28-7 on Monday Night Football.

Both teams were scoreless in the first quarter, as both teams threw interceptions on their first two drives.  With Washington driving the field, a screen pass from Marcus Mariota deflected off the hands of Deebo Samuel and into the air, right into the hands of defensive end Mike Danna for his first career interception.

Danna says when he saw the ball deflect off Samuel’s hands it was all hustle to the ball, and just one thought was on his mind

“Just please land on my hands,” Danna tells reporters in the locker room after the game.  “You know it was in slow motion so I just knew it was a good opportunity and those opportunites don’t come often so I just try to cash in on them.”

On the ensuing drive though, Patrick Mahomes attempted a back shoulder pass to Hollywood Brown, that would be intercepted by Marshon Lattimore, giving the Commanders the ball back.  Washington though was unable to do anything with the turnover, turning the ball over on downs after coming up short on a fourth down conversion attempt by just mere inches. 

Washington received another gift though on the next drive, as Mahomes turned the ball over for a second time in the first half, a ball deflecting off the hands of Travis Kelce and into the hands of linebacker Bobby Wagner.  Again though, a turnover on downs gave Kansas City the ball back.  The Chiefs wouldn’t fail to score this time.

Kansas City drove down the field in nine plays, initially looking like they scored in eight after Rashee Rice rushed in on a wildcat formation play, but Rice was ruled short and on the ninth play Kareem Hunt scored his first touchdown of the game, rushing in from one yard out for the touchdown. 

Washington answered though on the next drive, going down in 10 plays before Mariota connected with Terry McLaurin on an 11 yard touchdown pass.  McLaurin was initially ruled out of bounds, but after a review the call was reversed, and the teams ended up going to halftime tied 7-7. 

After the halftime break, the Chiefs took over the game, scoring right away on their first drive.  The message in the locker room was to execute better, and that they did, driving down the field in eight plays and scoring on a two yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Hunt, the drive aided in large part by a big 38 yard pass from Mahomes to Kelce. 

After forcing another punt, it took another eight play drive for Kansas City to extend their lead, this time getting a big play from JuJu Smith Schuster to move down the field, Mahomes connecting with him for a 24 yard pass, before capping the drive with a 10 yard passing touchdown to Kelce.  The touchdown reception was the 100th of Kelce’s career in both the postseason and regular season.

Danna made his presence felt on the ensuing drive, forcing another punt as he sacked Mariota on third down.  Kansas City scored their final touchdown on the next drive, a 13 play drive this time, ending with an 18 yard touchdown pass to Rice, his third touchdown since returning just last week. 

Both teams exchanged punts on their next two drives.  On Washington’s final drive of the game, Mariota threw his second interception, this time to linebacker Jack Cochrane, who also recorded the first interception of his career. 

In the last 10 quarters of football, the Chiefs defense has looked strong, allowing just two total touchdowns.

Defensive end George Karlaftis says even still, after a shutout against the Raiders and a shutout second half against the Commanders, they can still do better

“For us just challenging ourselves to keep getting better every single week,” Karlaftis says.  “We didn’t like the way we started, so it was just time for us to crank it up.” 

Another piece of the Chiefs that has stood out over the last several weeks is the depth of their offensive line.  

The depth of the Chiefs offensive line room has not been the problem it’s been in years past

With rookie left tackle Josh Simmons out for the past three weeks, Jaylen Moore has stepped in to fill the gap. And this week, with guard Trey Smith dealing with a back injury it was Mike Caliendo who stepped up.

Caliendo says a lot has to do with the culture developed by offensive line coach Andy Heck

“It’s just next man in more than it is next man up,” Caliendo explains.  “You just step into that role and do your best to fill it and play relentless every play.”

The Chiefs are now 5-3 on the season and travel to Buffalo on Sunday.  Kickoff is at 3:25pm, pregame will air at 2 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM) and Q Country (92.7 FM).

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.