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Early in the fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, tight end Travis Kelce had the most costly play of the game. And his quarterback had something to say about it after the game.
The costly play happened in a 2nd-and-8 situation from Kansas City’s 26 yard line and the Chiefs were leading 24-20. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threaded the needle to Kelce in between two Cincinnati defenders just past the first down marker. Kelce then turned upfield in an attempt to get yards after the catch, fumbled the football, and it was recovered by the Bengals.
On the ensuing drive, the Bengals marched 53 yards on 10 plays and capped off the drive with a touchdown. That touchdown ended up being the final scoring play of the game and helped earn Cincinnati its third consecutive win over the Chiefs.
Mahomes Sounds Off on Kelce Fumble
After the game, Mahomes was asked about Kelce’s costly fumble in the fourth quarter and came to the defense of his All-Pro tight end.
“I’m taking Travis (Kelce) fighting for extra yards every single time because that’s the type of competitor that he is,” Mahomes said during his postgame press conference on December 4.
Chiefs Lose Top AFC Seed in Week 13
The loss to Cincinnati (8-4) in Week 13 means the Chiefs (9-3) have now lost the top seed in the AFC to the Buffalo Bills (9-3).
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 16-of-27 pass attempts for 223 yards and scored 2 total touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) vs. Cincinnati. Kelce caught a team-high 4 passes for 56 yards, and rookie running back Isiah Pacheco ran the ball 14 times for 66 yards and scored his second career touchdown on an 8-yard scamper early in the third quarter.
Kansas City’s defense struggled to defend quarterback Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ offense. Burrow completed 25-of-31 pass attempts for 286 yards and 3 total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing). Second-year receiver Ja’Marr Chase had 7 catches for 97 yards. Running back Samaje Perine, who got the start in place of Joe Mixon (concussion), ran the ball 21 times for 106 yards. He also had an additional 49 yards in the air on 6 catches.
The Chiefs enter Week 14 still in first place in the AFC West ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers (6-6), Las Vegas Raiders (5-7), and Denver Broncos (3-9).
Kansas City’s next outing is a home game against the Broncos on Sunday, December 11 at 3:05 p.m. Central Time.
Twitter Reacts to Chiefs Losing to Bengals
Twitter users reacted to the Chiefs losing to the Bengals in Week 13.
“I’m ok with losing to them. What a team,” one Twitter user wrote. “Now, as I’ve been saying all season, our 2 biggest liabilities are Orlando [Brown Jr.] and Spags (Steve Spagnuolo).”
“Win lose or draw we ride man,” another user wrote. “Have to make some adjustments but did like the commitment to the run today. Nice step in the right direction for these teams that play to take away the pass. McKinnon is a dog love to see it and pacheco just been steady on the rise.”
“Looks just like last year. Defense standing waiting, letting them catch the ball THEN, trying to initiate a tackle. Cincinnati pulls several Chiefs & slips through their hands THEN, stand at the end zone 3 feet from the receiver watching him run in Did Cincinnati pay the defense?” another user wrote.
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