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It wasn’t easy, but the Kansas City Chiefs were able to come out on top against a Tennessee Titans team that fought them tooth and nail for 60-plus minutes at Arrowhead Stadium.
After the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes II credited the opponent for making things difficult but he also gave a ton of respect to his teammates. “We were just battling at the end of the game,” the superstar told reporters, “we were just trying to find a way to win and our defense kept us in the game long enough to do that.”
In the end, it was a 20-17 overtime victory for KC and Mahomes praised an unsung hero for his part in the comeback.
Patrick Mahomes Credits Noah Gray’s Heroics vs Titans
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce gets a ton of fanfare but his understudy Noah Gray typically flies way under the radar. The second-year prospect is having a nice sophomore campaign as the main backup behind Kelce and Week 9 was his best outing yet.
“I feel like I don’t target Noah enough,” Mahomes admitted during his postgame press conference. “A lot of times plays are called either to him or he’s one of the options I can give him a chance on, and it seems like I don’t throw it to him and he’s always open.”
“As the season’s going on and our careers go on I want to give him more and more chances,” the Chiefs QB vowed. “I think he can be a big part of this offense. That whole tight end room has been great for us this season, but for him to make that catch in that moment, I mean that was a tough catch that he made — that was a big one for us and that was probably the reason that we were able to get down there and win.”
Mahomes is, of course, referencing Gray’s 27-yard leaping jump-ball reception that came with a man on him and some impressive concentration. The Duke product soared over his defender and sort of tipped the ball to himself to secure the long conversion in overtime.
By the end of the night, Gray had caught three passes for 45 yards with 40 offensive snaps. It was his best performance of the year as a receiver in 2022, and the second-most snaps he’s logged within the offense.
Gritty Win Highlights Chiefs’ Resolve
This was a straight-up battle in Kansas City and Mahomes had no problem voicing as much after the game.
“These are games you’re gonna need if you’re going to try and win a Super Bowl,” he stated. “Obviously, we want to be that high-flying, scoring every time we’re out there on the field [offense] but I think with the schedule that we’ve played, we won all different types of ways against a lot of great football teams. We’ve shown that we can do it in different ways.”
Head coach Andy Reid shared a similar message during his postgame press conference.
“The main thing was we won a game where we were behind a bit, it was a struggle — we were up and down and the guys all hung together — you gotta win [these games], you gotta be able to do this,” he noted with a big smile.
“Everything wasn’t smooth,” Reid reiterated later, “it was up and down, and you’ve gotta persevere through that and the lows, and then somebody’s gotta step up and make a play.”
Mahomes and Gray combined to do that when the game was on the line. It was a big moment for an underrated piece that is often overshadowed by the stars that play around him.
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