Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs is sacked by Carl Granderson of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: AFP
Patrick Mahomes tossed three touchdown passes as the Kansas City Chiefs improved to an NFL best 13-1 with a 32-29 victory over Drew Brees' New Orleans Saints on Sunday in Louisiana.
Mahomes completed 26 of 47 passes for 254 yards (232 meters) as the defending Super Bowl champions won their ninth straight game in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 3,000 at the Superdome arena.
Brees, who was playing his first game since missing four contests with rib injuries, looked out of sorts completing 15 of 34 passes for 234 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
New Orleans dropped to 10-4 on the season losing their second straight after a nine-game winning streak.
Brees' first three passes were incomplete and his fourth was intercepted by L'Jarius Sneed, leading to Mahomes' touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill and a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Mahomes threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce for a 14-0 lead.
With two weeks remaining in the season and the quest for playoff seeding hitting a key stage, the Chiefs took another step toward home-field advantage while the Saints missed a chance to wrap up the NFC South.
The Seattle Seahawks punched their playoff ticket on Sunday, rushing for 181 yards and thwarting a late Washington rally in a 20-15 victory. Seattle are back in the postseason for the ninth time in 11 seasons under coach Pete Carroll.
Seattle improved to 10-4, notching a second straight victory as they look ahead to next week's NFC West showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
The New England Patriots were officially eliminated from playoff contention. The Pats lost 22-12 to the Miami Dolphins, falling to 6-8.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by former Pats quarterback Tom Brady, kept their bid for a first playoff berth since 2007 alive as they rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-27.
