Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs starters moved the ball with ease in the first half.
Mahomes and the Chiefs scored on their first three possessions, but the Bears backups rallied late for a 29-27 win Friday at Arrowhead Stadium in the preseason finale.
Mahomes completed 8 of 13 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. He also ran once for 18 yards.
“Pat looked smooth, confident,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I thought it was a pretty smooth operation. It’s preseason, but we needed to get some reps there and we came out healthy.”
Mahomes played into the second quarter in what was his most extensive action of the preseason. He played just one snap in the opener against the Cardinals and didn’t play at all last week against the Seahawks.
The Chiefs starters looked in rhythm as Travis Kelce had two catches for 32 yards and JuJu Smith-Schuster had one catch for 19 yards. Rashee Rice had two catches for 13 yards, including a touchdown from Mahomes on a perfect back shoulder throw on the team’s second possession.
Mahomes credited the offensive line, especially the left side of Josh Simmons and Kingsley Suamataia, for giving him time in the pocket to make throws down field, including a 58-yarder to Tyquan Thornton.
“I was super excited to get out here and get real reps with these guys,” Mahomes said of his offensive line. “To get the feel for the pocket and the trust with those guys and give guys a chance to make plays down field, it shows all the hard work that we put in during training camp is paying off. This is a little step, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
Isiah Pacheco had three rushes for 21 yards, and Kareem Hunt added five carries for 15 yards. The Chiefs led 20-10 at the half and 27-10 at the end of the third quarter, but the Bears scored 19 unanswered in the fourth to rally for the win.
The Chiefs will now look to trim their roster down to 53 as NFL cutdown day is Tuesday. The Chiefs will open the regular season Sept. 5 against the Chargers in Brazil.
“We’ll smoothen some things out the next couple weeks here and get ourselves ready to play a good Charger team,” Reid said.
