The Kansas City Chiefs were pushed to the brink by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but remained undefeated to wrap up Week 9. Lining up at the goal line, Kareem Hunt barreled through the end zone in overtime for the game-winning touchdown to keep his team perfect on the year with a 30-24 victory.

This came after a frantic final minute of regulation where Baker Mayfield orchestrated a 10-play, 71-yard drive that knotted the game at 24 to help force overtime. After the Chiefs won the coin toss, Patrick Mahomes led the defending Super Bowl champs on a 70-yard drive to move to 8-0 on the year.

Despite 27 points being scored in the second half/overtime, it was a relatively slow start for both of these offenses, but the Chiefs got on the board first after orchestrating a field goal drive on their second possession of the game. However, it was the Bucs who initially landed in the end zone as Rashaad White, a Kansas City native, capped off an 11-play drive with a 7-yard touchdown run in the early stages of the second quarter.

It wouldn’t take long for the Chiefs to answer and retake the lead, responding with their own 11-play touchdown drive on the ensuing possession. DeAndre Hopkins reeled in a tremendous 35-yard catch in double coverage to convert a third-and-8 situation. Three plays later, he connected with Patrick Mahomes for a goal-line touchdown, his first as a Chief and first of two on the night.

As the game turned to the second half, the Buccaneers largely owned the third quarter, enjoying a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead. Tight end Cade Otton was the catalyst on their touchdown drive to begin the third quarter, while the defense continued to apply pressure on Mahomes.

Kansas City’s offense would start to come alive in the closing minutes of the third, however, which set the stage for their fourth-quarter surge. It was at that juncture that Hunt and the K.C. running game began imposing their will, as the team finished with 124 yards on the ground and helped lead a 14-0 run.

While it looked as if they’d simply ride that to victory, the Bucs wouldn’t go quietly. Down a touchdown with just over two minutes to play in regulation and one timeout, Mayfield completed a touchdown pass to Ryan Miller to tie the game with 27 seconds left and force overtime.

That was as close as they could come, however, as K.C. won the toss to begin overtime and ran away with the game.

For more on how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below.

Why the Chiefs won

Kansas City — specifically Patrick Mahomes — was dominant on third down Monday night, and that’s what propelled them to the win. The Chiefs quarterback completed 11 of his 13 pass attempts on third down in Week 9 for 126 yards, three touchdowns and 10 total first-down conversions. As a team, Kansas City converted 12 of their 18 third-down situations and their lone fourth-down attempt.

That ability to keep the chains moving noticeably wore out the Buccaneers defense as the contest went on, which opened up the running game for Kareem Hunt and others out of the backfield to start imposing their will in the second half. During their second possession of the second half, Hunt rushed for 47 yards on a 6.7-yard-per-attempt average to help march the offense down the field to tie the game at 17. That ability to churn yardage on the ground late proved to be key in Kansas City’s overtime win.

Why the Buccaneers lost

It was a valiant effort from Tampa Bay against the undefeated defending champions, but when you are facing an opponent of this caliber, you have to be perfect in order to win on the road. As we noted above, the Bucs simply couldn’t get off the field on third down at any point throughout the night. Those same struggles existed in the red zone, as Kansas City converted all four of its trips for touchdowns. So, while the offense put up points, the defense struggled to carry the baton and fend off K.C. for four-plus quarters.

Because it couldn’t get off the field, the Tampa Bay defense was gassed by the end of this game. Where that proved to be key was attacking Mahomes. In the first half, the Bucs tallied three sacks on Mahomes and had him under siege for most of the first two quarters. They added another sack during the Chiefs’ opening possession of the third quarter, but didn’t take him down for the rest of the game.

Turning point

If you ask Baker Mayfield, the turning point in this game was the overtime coin toss — at least based on the quarterback’s reaction after losing the opportunity to possess the ball first and win the game with a touchdown without Mahomes ever seeing the field.

And he’d be right. Mahomes and the Chiefs offense methodically marched 70 yards down the field over the course of 10 plays during which the quarterback leaned on his star tight end Travis Kelce. He accounted for 26 of Kansas City’s 70 yards on the drive, including a 15-yard catch to get the team into the red zone and then a 4-yard reception that brought it down to the 2-yard line.

It was at that point where Hunt carried the team over the goal line to keep K.C. undefeated.

Play of the game

In his second game as a Chief, wideout DeAndre Hopkins made his presence felt. The former Tennessee Titan hauled in two touchdowns on the night to go along with 86 yards on eight receptions. While two of his catches went for scores, there was arguably no more impressive reception than his 35-yard grab in the second quarter. Mahomes had pressure in his face and barley got the throw off, while Hopkins beat two defenders to somehow come up with the catch and set Kansas City up inside the 5-yard line.

According to Next Gen Stats, that throw had a 12.3% catch probability, which makes it the fourth-most improbable catch of the season.

What’s next

The Chiefs will remain at home and await the Denver Broncos, who’ll come to town in Week 10. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers head back to Tampa and gear up for a matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.