Mahomes, Kelce and a new running back carry Chiefs past Colts 33-30 in overtime

With 3:06 left in overtime and the score tied at 30, Patrick Mahomes jogged into the huddle at Arrowhead Stadium knowing the next score would end it. A sequence of handoffs and a pass to Kenneth Walker set the stage, and when Harrison Butker's 40-yard field goal sailed through the uprights, Kansas City had secured a 33-30 win over Indianapolis and an eighth straight overtime victory in the regular season — tying an NFL record.

The win, on Sunday Night Football, keeps Kansas City at 2-0 and drops Indianapolis to 0-2. But the margin was far thinner than the final score suggests, and the game turned on a replay review that wiped out what the Chiefs believed was a game-ending fumble recovery.

Trailing in overtime with the score knotted, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones found Laquon Treadwell for a 48-yard gain to Kansas City's 17-yard line. Treadwell bobbled and recovered the catch, evaded a tackle by Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, then was tackled by Nohl Williams, who punched the ball free. Kansas City recovered the fumble and believed, under the regular-season overtime rules in place since 2025 — which guarantee each team at least one possession — that it had won the game by forcing a turnover before Indianapolis could score.

An official review changed everything. Replays showed that Sneed's left hand had grazed Treadwell's right hip at the precise moment Treadwell secured his bobbled catch — a brush of a few fingers, barely enough to count as down by contact. The fumble was negated. The Colts were still alive.

Indianapolis, however, could not capitalize. Three plays later, facing fourth-and-8 from the 15-yard line, the Colts chose to kick a field goal rather than go for the touchdown that would have won it outright.

Had a play called. Had to love the look to run it there.— Shane Steichen, Colts head coach

The decision left Mahomes with 3:06 and a tied game. He made Indianapolis pay. In the drive that followed, Walker — who won Super Bowl MVP honors with Seattle last February before joining Kansas City as a free agent this offseason — rushed three times for 18 yards, hauled in a 22-yard reception from Mahomes, and tacked on two more rushing yards to put Butker in position for the winning kick.

That's what this NFL is about is just finding a way to win games.— Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback

Mahomes ended the day with 382 passing yards and three touchdown throws — to Jalen Royals, Travis Kelce, and Xavier Worthy — bringing his career total to 25 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, according to NBC News.

The Colts had led 20-17 at halftime, capped by Jonathan Taylor's 24-yard touchdown run. A 5-yard Taylor scoring run in the fourth quarter pulled Indianapolis level at 27, though the Colts managed only four offensive plays in the third quarter and were without receiver Alec Pierce, who left with an injury in the first half, according to Fox Sports.

As important as Walker's debut season contributions have been — 191 yards from scrimmage in Week 1, 117 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards Sunday — the performance that may have most encouraged Kansas City came from a familiar face. Sunday brought 11 targets, nine catches, 101 yards, and a touchdown for Travis Kelce, who has weighed retirement in each of the past two offseasons following back-to-back career-low statistical years; his 128 yards after contact through two games is the highest such figure of his career at that point in a season, per ESPN as cited by NBC News. The last time Kelce had topped 100 yards and scored a touchdown in the same game was Week 7 of 2023.

There was never a doubt that we were going to get that win.— Travis Kelce, Chiefs tight end

We're in a zone right now where everybody's feeding off each other and it's only making us better and it's making us play harder for each other.— Travis Kelce, Chiefs tight end

During the game, Kelce surpassed every other player in NFL history in career yards after the catch, according to Fox Sports.

We able to, I guess, freestyle it. If I'm open or if somebody open, play break down, he able to make plays, so it's great to play with him.— Kenneth Walker, Chiefs running back

The win matters beyond the standings. A 17-game winning streak in games decided by 8 points or less ended in Week 1 of last season, after which Kansas City went 1-9 in one-score contests. Mahomes suffered a season-ending knee injury in December, and the team ranked near the league's bottom third in yards per carry. With two wins to open this season, the Chiefs are among just four AFC teams still unbeaten — alongside Las Vegas, Cincinnati, and Buffalo — according to NBC News.

Why it matters — After a 1-9 record in one-score games last season and a Mahomes knee injury, Kansas City's ability to win a close overtime game — with a revived Kelce and a new offensive centerpiece in Walker — signals the Chiefs may be back as the AFC's most dangerous team in tight spots.

Reported by yahoo.com, nbcnews.com, nbcsports.com, foxsports.com, nytimes.com