KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and the first-team Kansas City Chiefs offense were in midseason form in their preseason finale Friday night, scoring on each of their three opportunities with the ball before the Chicago Bears rallied for a 29-27 victory.
Mahomes was 8 of 13 for 143 yards and a touchdown in just over a quarter of work, and he’d have had another TD pass had running back Kareem Hunt not dropped a wide-open throw in the end zone. Isiah Pacheco had a touchdown run and Rashee Rice a scoring catch as the reigning AFC champs built a 20-3 lead before pulling most of their starters.
Kansas City plays its opener in two weeks against the Chargers in Sao Paulo.
The Chiefs had struggled through preseason losses to Arizona and Seattle, where they were dominated up front on both sides of the ball. But they fared better against the Bears, who had played the Dolphins to a draw before routing Buffalo last week.
While the Bears could seemingly do no wrong in the 38-0 win over the Bills, they had a much tougher time with the Chiefs, who forced Caleb Williams and Co. to punt on their first two possessions. The Bears finally got moving late in the second quarter, and Williams hit Rome Odunze with a touchdown pass to get within 20-10 at halftime.
That was it for Williams, who finished 11 of 15 for 113 yards and the score.
Bears backup Tyson Bagent, who signed a two-year, $10 million deal this week and then went viral when he grew emotional talking about it, played well once he took over at QB. The former undrafted stand-out from Shepherd University, a Division II program in West Virginia, was 20 of 28 for 212 yards and three touchdown passes.
The last of them was the go-ahead score to Jahdae Walker with 3 seconds left in the game.
The Bears have been thin at running back with Roschon Johnson out with an injury, Travis Homer dealing with a calf problem, and Kyle Monangai and Deion Hankins also out. DeAndre Swift wound up carrying seven times for 28 yards.
Kicking woes
Bears kicker Cairo Santos banged a 47-yard field-goal try off the upright in the first half. He had a PAT blocked in the second.
System outage
Referee Craig Wrolstad called for a virtual measurement when Chicago was stopped shy of a first down with 5:38 left in the third quarter. But the system was down, Wrolstad said, so an old-school chain gang had to measure. The Bears were indeed short.
Injuries
Bears: LB Noah Sewell was banged up tackling the Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy late in the first quarter.
Chiefs: WR Jaylen Royals (knee), CB Nazeeh Johnson (shoulder) and LB Jack Cochrane (knee) were among those sitting out. WR Marquise Brown also did not play despite returning to practice this week following an ankle injury.
Up next
Bears: Host the Vikings in primetime to open the season Sept. 8.
Chiefs: Head to Brazil to face the Chargers on Sept. 5.