KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are getting healthier, deeper and more dynamic as the season presses on.
The Baltimore Ravens? Pretty much the opposite of all of that.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns in a turn-back-the-clock kind of performance, and the Chiefs jumped on a Ravens team missing seven defensive starters by the end — to say nothing of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had to leave with a hamstring injury — for a 37-20 victory in a matchup of AFC behemoths desperate for a win.
Four different players caught TD passes for the Chiefs, while Xavier Worthy returned from a shoulder injury to catch five passes for 83 yards, igniting a Kansas City offense that had been struggling to find its footing through the first three weeks.
“We've been making little mistakes here and there and that causes frustration,” Mahomes said, “but we've been learning from them. I've been proud of the guys for the way they've responded, getting better every week.”
The Chiefs (2-2) built a 20-10 halftime lead against Baltimore before cruising to their seventh win in the past eight meetings. The most recent time the Ravens (1-3) beat them was September 2021, and their previous win in Kansas City was on Oct. 7, 2021.
Jackson threw for 147 yards with a touchdown and his first interception of the season before hurting his hamstring midway through the third quarter, though by that point the game was mostly decided. Cooper Rush played the rest of the way for the Ravens, who suddenly find themselves in a dire situation just four weeks into the season.
Only five teams in the 14-team playoff era have started 1-3 and made the postseason.
“I'm concerned but I'm not overwhelmed by it. Three losses to probably three of the top teams in the league,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who explained that Jackson sustained a strain to his hamstring and will be evaluated further on Monday.
“We've got to win the next game, and then once you win the next game, then you have a chance to start stacking some wins."
Derrick Henry finished with just eight carries for 42 yards. Justice Hill had a late 71-yard touchdown run. Otherwise, the Chiefs shut down a Baltimore offense that had scored an NFL-best 111 points over the first three weeks.
“It was a big step forward for us,” said Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, who flew back from a family funeral in Mississippi on Sunday, and whose police escort got him to Arrowhead Stadium with about 20 minutes left before kickoff.
While the Chiefs were getting healthier with the return of Worthy, the Ravens defense — already decimated by injuries — thinned even more when linebacker Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins got hurt. That left the Ravens without seven defensive starters — among them two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and pass rusher Broderick Washington Jr., who went on injured reserve Saturday — by the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
“It's part of the game,” Hill said of the injuries. “I mean, not everything would be sunshine and rainbows. Last year we started off slow and (made the) playoffs and went deep. So I don't think it's difficult. We just know what we need to do going forward to be in the place we want to be. It just kind of shows you the character of the team.”
Still, the Chiefs took advantage of a team that was wounded.
Their own offense had been inconsistent through the first three weeks but scored on its first four possessions on Sunday. Harrison Butker knocked through a pair of field goals, then Mahomes hit JuJu Smith-Schuster with a short TD throw and Isiah Pacheco with another touchdown pass to give Kansas City a 20-7 lead late in the first half.
The Chiefs nearly made it 5 for 5 on scoring drives, but Butker missed a 56-yarder wide left. That opened the door for Baltimore to get a 43-yard field goal from Tyler Loop and make it a 10-point game at the break.
But the mounting injuries, coupled with a red-hot Kansas City offense, were far too much to overcome.
The Chiefs needed just six plays to drive 65 yards for Tyquan Thornton's touchdown reception to start the second half. And after the Ravens added Loop's second field goal, the Chiefs answered with one of their own, before Mahomes threw a nifty pass to Marquise Brown in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to put the game well out of reach.
“These two teams, I mean, the competition — you love it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That's why we play this game.”
Injuries
Ravens: Along with Jackson, Smith, Humphrey and Wiggins, LT Ronnie Stanley (ankle) also left the game and did not return.
Chiefs: There were no injuries for Kansas City.
Up next
Baltimore plays Houston next Sunday. Kansas City visits Jacksonville next Monday night.