CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Patrick Mahomes threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, Spencer Shrader kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on Sunday to reach double-digit wins for the 10th straight season.
Noah Gray caught two TD passes as the Chiefs (10-1) bounced back from last week’s 30-21 loss at Buffalo and won at the buzzer yet again in a season of narrow escapes. DeAndre Hopkins also had a touchdown catch for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, who scored on their first five possessions.
Bryce Young finished 21 of 35 for 262 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers (3-8), who had their two-game winning streak snapped. David Moore had six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing 27-19, Young completed a fourth-down pass to Adam Thielen to move the chains, then went deep for the veteran receiver, who drew a pass-interference penalty on Chamarri Conner. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Chuba Hubbard.
Young’s initial 2-point conversion toss to Moore drew a flag on Trent McDuffie, and Hubbard ran for 2 on the next play to tie the game with 1:46 left.
Mahomes ran for 33 yards on the ensuing drive and was sprung by a downfield block from Justin Watson to reach field goal range. Then he connected with Kareem Hunt for 10 yards to make it a chip shot for Shrader. Mahomes finished with 60 yards rushing.
The Chiefs wasted no time setting the tone as Samaje Perine returned the opening kickoff 56 yards and Mahomes found Gray for a 35-yard touchdown strike on the third play of scrimmage for a 7-0 lead. Gray went nine games without a TD catch before hauling in two last week against Buffalo. His 11-yard score late in the second quarter gave him two more against the Panthers.
The Panthers moved the ball well but struggled in the red zone, resulting in field goals of 30, 32, 29 and 33 yards for Eddy Pineiro, the most accurate kicker in NFL history.
Running back Jonathan Brooks made his NFL debut for Carolina, but was limited to 7 yards on two carries.
Eight of the Chiefs’ wins have come by a one-score margin, and this was their second straight victory decided on the last play. They beat Denver two weeks ago by blocking a would-be game-winning field goal.
Kansas City’s Travis Kelce had six catches for 62 yards and moved into third place in career yards receiving by a tight end. He ranks behind only Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten. However, Kelce failed to find the end zone for the ninth time in 11 games this season.
Panthers: Rookie TE Ja’Tavion Sanders was taken to the hospital with a neck injury after landing awkwardly on his head after making a catch near the end of the second quarter.
Chiefs: Host Las Vegas on Friday.
Panthers: Host Tampa Bay next Sunday.
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