Mason Rudolph guided a long first-half touchdown drive to perhaps nudge ahead of Josh Dobbs in the race to be the backup behind Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 17-7 on Saturday night.
Kansas City coach Andy Reid suggested Patrick Mahomes would play most of the first half.
Not quite.
The reigning NFL MVP — who directed a touchdown in his lone drive in Kansas City’s preseason opener last week — did little during two series of work following a thunderstorm that forced the opening kickoff to be pushed back nearly an hour.
Mahomes completed just 2 of 5 passes for 11 yards, a far cry from his previous visit to Heinz Field, when he threw for six touchdowns in a Week 2 win last September that served as a harbinger of the season to come.
The Chiefs didn’t escape Heinz Field unscathed. Safety Tyrann Matthieu left with a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Deon Yelder went down with a knee injury and Marcus Kemp exited with a knee injury. Linebacker Breeland Speaks suffered a knee injury in the second half and did not return. Quarterback Chase Litton was taken out in the final seconds after taking a hard hit shortly after releasing a pass.
Chiefs: Host San Francisco this Saturday.
Other Scores
Saturday
Cleveland beat Indianapolis 21-18
New England defeated Tennessee 22-17
Detroit lost to Houston 30-23
Dallas beat the L.A. Rams 14-10
Sunday
New Orleans beat San Diego 19-17
Minnesota defeated Seattle 25-19
Tonight
Denver host San Francisco