National Football League

Mahomes, KC Survive Rookie Scare

Published Sep. 20, 2020 9:02 p.m. ET

A rookie quarterback made his NFL debut, the reigning Rookie of the Year is already in midseason form, and the Baltimore Ravens handled business as usual.

Check out the key takeaways from the afternoon slate of NFL football:

Mahomes holds off Herbert

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will travel back to Arrowhead with a 23-20 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers – but it didn't come easy.

For the fourth time in the last five games, Mahomes led his team back from a double-digit deficit in order to get a win.

Mahomes seized the momentum in the fourth quarter, pitching a 54-yard TD bomb to WR Tyreek Hill at the top of the quarter, before finding wide receiver Mecole Hardman for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 17.

Late in the game, KC's fate was in the hands of kicker Harrison Butker, who nailed a 30-yard field goal on the final play of regulation, sending the game to OT, where he closed it out with 58-yarder.

With the OT victory, Mahomes spoiled the debut of Chargers rookie QB Justin Herbert, who showed his chops in his first-ever start after Tyrod Taylor suffered a chest injury in warmups.

Herbert opened his NFL career with a 4-yard rushing TD on his first drive, and only progressed from there.

The rookie proved he can make plays with his arm and his legs, finishing the day with 311 passing yards, 1 passing TD and 1 interception, while adding 18 yards on the ground for a rushing TD.

Justin Herbert became the first player with a rushing and passing TD in the first half of their debut game since 1954.

Ravens bring the rush

It was just your average Sunday for Lamar Jackson & Co, as the Ravens racked up their 14th consecutive regular season win and another victory over the Houston Texans.

The Baltimore backfield was in full force, as RB Mark Ingram had 9 carries for 55 yards and a TD, Jackson ran 16 times for 54 yards, rookie J.K. Dobbins added 48 yards on 2 carries, and Gus Edwards had 73 yards on 10 carries.

Ingram essentially sealed the game with a 30-yard TD off a direct snap on 4th and 1 early in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens ran for 230 of their 407 total yards, the 10th time they've rushed for over 200 yards in the last 18 regular season games.

Kyler on fire

Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray led the Cardinals to their second win of the season, this time over the Washington Football Team, with 248 passing yards and 1 TD, while adding 67 yards on the ground and 2 TD runs, of 14 and 22 yards.

The last Cardinals QB with 2 TD runs of more than 14 yards in a game was Hall of Famer Charley Trippi (18 and 26 yard TDs) against the Chicago Bears in 1951 at Wrigley Field.

The connection between Murray and his newest weapon wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is proving to be a fortuitous one, as D-Hop finished the day with 8 receptions for 68 yards and a TD.