Chiefs Rout Jets, 35-12, With Dominant Second-Half Performance

The Kansas City Chiefs struggled early against the New York Jets, but the Chiefs played a solid second half to take control of the game and get a 35-12 win on Sunday at Arrowhead. 

The Chiefs played a sloppy first quarter that was marred by both penalties and fumbles, but the first half was otherwise about the Chiefs scoring touchdowns while the Jets countered with field goals. 

The Jets scored first with an impressive 64-yard drive, but the Chiefs stiffened up in the red zone and Jason Sanders kicked a 23-yard field goal to make it 3-0. They doubled their lead later in the quarter after a fumble on a quarterback sneak attempt by backup QB Justin Fields, and Sanders knocked home his second score of the quarter to make it 6-0. 

The Chiefs finally got it together in the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns, with running back Kenneth Walker III taking the receiving route to the end zone on two throws from quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The first was from seven yards out, with the second covering 25, but the Jets countered with two more field goals to make it 14-12. 

Kansas City had a genuinely scary moment before the end ofthe first half when Mahomes hurt his elbow after getting hit as he was making a throw.  He was checked out by medical personnel, but Mahomes was grimacing on the throws that followed, and he spent the rest of the game being worked on intermittently on the sidelines. 

The Chiefs dominated the second half, though, as they slowly took over the game with three straight touchdowns. The first game on a 1-yard lateral toss to tight end Travis Kelce that was later called a running play, and Walker got his third TD of the game on a two-yard run late in the third quarter. 

Running back Emmett Johnson took over for Walker as the Chiefs piled up a late lead, and he scored the final TD of the game on a six-yard run in the fourth that was mostly icing on the cake. 

The key to the second-half domination was the Chiefs pass rush, which finally showed up and got results. They sacked Jets QB Geno Smith five times for 42 yards, with defensive tackle Chris Jones posting a pair as they forced the Jets into playing their own unique brand of sloppy football in a game that featured multiple sideline outbursts.

The win put the Chiefs at 6-2, but the injury to Mahomes will be closely watched, and the Chiefs also lost receiver Xavier Worthy in the second half on what appeared to be a hamstring injury.