CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Chicago Bears 26-3 Sunday night to stay in contention for a first-round playoff bye.
Kansas City (11-4) earned its fifth straight win and remained a game behind New England for the AFC’s second seed. The Patriots clinched their 11th consecutive AFC East championship by beating Buffalo on Saturday. The Chiefs hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over New England thanks to a victory two weeks ago that helped secure their fourth AFC West title in a row.
Mahomes, playing his 30th game, became the fastest player to reach the 9,000-yard passing mark. The 2018 MVP was 23 of 33 for 251 yards, giving him 9,238 in three seasons since the Chiefs drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick in 2017. Hall of Famer Kurt Warner did it in 32 games.
Mahomes also has 75 touchdown passes, making him the fastest player to hit that mark.
Travis Kelce, already the first tight end with four straight 1,000-yard seasons, became the first to reach 1,200 yards in back-to-back years. He caught eight passes for 74 yards, giving him 1,205 this year. That included a 6-yard touchdown near the end of the first half.
Harrison Butker kicked a career-best 56-yard field goal that was was the fourth longest in franchise history. He also hit both the left and right uprights on a missed extra point.
And coach Andy Reid beat protege Matt Nagy in his first meeting with his longtime former assistant.
The Bears (7-8) dropped their second straight after winning four of five. The Monsters of the Midway are in danger of finishing with a losing record in a season that began with Super Bowl hopes.
Mitchell Trubisky completed 18 of 34 passes for 157 yards. And Khalil Mack had a sack.
The Chiefs led 17-0 at halftime after scoring on all three possessions and racking up more than twice as many yards as the Bears (203-93).
Mahomes rolled to his left and went 12 yards untouched to the end zone, capping a 15-play drive that ate up 7 minutes, 58 seconds.
Butker nailed a 56-yard field goal early in the second quarter. And Mahomes hit Kelce for the TD in the closing minute of the half, after Chicago’s Kevin Pierre-Louis got flagged for running into punter Dustin Colquitt.
The Bears drove to the 4 in the third, but Trubisky’s fourth-down pass to Allen Robinson in the left side of the end zone got broken up by Charvarius Ward. Chicago finally scored when Eddy Piñeiro kicked a 46-yard field goal as the quarter ended.
Mahomes answered with a 14-yard touchdown to Damien Williams on the opening drive of the fourth to make it 23-3. Butker then missed the extra point when the ball somehow ricocheted off the left and right uprights.
INJURIES
Chiefs: The Chiefs said in the fourth quarter RB Spencer Ware suffered a shoulder injury.
Bears: NT Eddie Goldman (concussion) exited in the first half. ... RG Rashaad Coward suffered a knee injury in the first half.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: Host Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 29.
Bears: Visit Minnesota on Dec. 29. ___ More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL