Patrick Mahomes throws for 331 yards, Derek Carr hurt as Chiefs shut down Saints for 26-13 victory

 Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards, Kareem Hunt ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, and Chiefs overcame more red-zone woes Monday to beat New Orleans Saints 26-13 on a big night for Kansas City's professional sports teams.

Just as Chiefs were moving to 5-0 behind ar defensive gem, Royals were beating Yankees in Game 2 of ir AL Division Series in New York. re were frequent chants of “Let's go Royals!” throughout game, and when Royals finished off a 4-2 victory to send series back to Kansas City tied a game apiece, a roar ripped through Arrowhe Stium.

re were plenty of roars for Chiefs, too. Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy scored ar touchdown, and ir defense shut down old Raiders rival Derek Carr while dealing Saints (2-3) ir third consecutive defeat.

Carr threw for 185 yards with two touchdowns and a pick before leaving with an oblique injury. It occurred with about 9 1/2 minutes left, when Carr was hit on a fourth-down incompletion as he tried to rally New Orleans from a 23-13 deficit.

Saints' Alvin Kamara mand 26 yards rushing on 11 carries, becoming latest high-profile running back to struggle against Chiefs. y held Ravens' Derrick Henry to 46 yards rushing, Zack Moss of Bengals to 34, Falcons star Bijan Robinson to 31 and J.K. Dobbins to 32 in last week's win over Chargers.

first half Monday night featured a bit of everything: Hunt's first TD since returning to Kansas City, where his once-promising career was derailed by an off--field incident ; a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Rashid Shaheed, shortest of three Shaheed has caught this season; and yet ar lateral by Travis Kelce, which came on most bizarre of drives.

Chiefs were leing 10-7 when a fumbled pitch and a holding penalty left m facing second-and-34. y got some of it back on a pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, and n Mahomes hit Kelce over middle. Kelce lateraled to Samaje Perine, who got within a yard of a first down, and Kansas City converted fourth-and-short play to set up an eventual field goal.

It was exactly that — field goals — that kept New Orleans in game, though. Chiefs have struggled to score TDs in red zone all season, and y were forced to let Harrison Butker kick a trio of chip shots to le 16-7 at break.

ir red-zone woes continued in third quarter. On second-and-goal, Smith-Schuster h a pass bounce off his hands at goal line and into arms of 324-pound former Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who me his first career interception.

Saints promptly marched 65 yards with Foster Moreau's TD catch getting m within 16-13 with 14:16 to play.

But unlike every or game for Chiefs, which h been decided in final minutes — if t final play — y answered blow by delivering one of ir own. Smith-Schuster hauled in a 50-yard pass moments later, and Worthy took a handoff on first-and-goal at 3 for a touchdown that extended ir cushion early in fourth quarter.

After Chiefs stopped Saints on fourth down, y tacked on ar field goal with 3:03 left.

Taylor Swift was back at Arrowhe Stium to see Kelce and Chiefs after missing her boyfriend's previous two ro games. She resumes her record-setting Eras Tour on Friday night with first of three shows in Miami.

Saints: CB Will Harris hurt his hamstring in first half. C Lucas Patrick left briefly in third quarter with a collarbone injury,

Chiefs: LT Wanya Morris left in first half with a lower leg injury but returned to game.

New Orleans hosts Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Kansas City has a week off before visiting San Francisco on Oct. 20.