Week 1 showed us what the Kansas City Chiefs look like when almost everything works.
Week 2 showed us something different.
What happens when it doesn't?
Kansas City beat Indianapolis 33–30 in overtime Sunday night, improving to 2–0 after Harrison Butker kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired.
It was nothing like the Chiefs' 31–10 domination of Denver.
Indianapolis scored 20 first-half points.
Jonathan Taylor ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
Kansas City's defense surrendered long drives.
Butker missed a 51-yard field goal.
The Chiefs thought they had won the game on an Indianapolis fumble in overtime, only for replay to overturn the ruling.
Then Indianapolis kicked a field goal to tie the game again.
Kansas City had to win the game twice.
And somehow it did.
Mahomes Looked Like Mahomes Again
Patrick Mahomes completed 32 of 47 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns.
The statistics are impressive.
The situation was more impressive.
Indianapolis kept answering.
Every time Kansas City appeared ready to take control, the Colts found another response.
That can frustrate an offense.
Mahomes never appeared interested in frustration.
He just kept moving the football.
Kansas City produced 523 total yards of offense and repeatedly created scoring opportunities against Indianapolis.
Then came overtime.
Third-and-12?
Mahomes found Tyquan Thornton for 30 yards.
Need another first down?
Travis Kelce.
Need to get closer?
Mahomes scrambled.
Need one final drive after Indianapolis tied the game again?
Mahomes and Kenneth Walker handled it.
That's the version of Mahomes Chiefs fans remember.
Kansas City Controlled the Third Quarter Without Dominating the Scoreboard
One of the most interesting parts of the game came after halftime.
The Chiefs didn't suddenly overwhelm Indianapolis defensively.
They did something else.
They kept the Colts offense on the sideline.
Kansas City possessed the football for all but 2:22 of the third quarter, using long offensive possessions to regain control of the game's rhythm.
That matters.
Sometimes the best response to a defense struggling to stop an opponent is simply refusing to give that opponent the football.
Andy Reid and Mahomes essentially changed the nature of the game.
Indianapolis had scored 20 points in the first half.
Then the Colts barely touched the football in the third quarter.
That's game management at its best.
The Defense Still Has Work to Do
Winning shouldn't erase the problems.
Kansas City's defense was outstanding against Denver.
It wasn't nearly as dominant Sunday.
Taylor found running room.
Josh Downs created problems for the secondary.
Indianapolis sustained an 8½-minute fourth-quarter drive that ended with Taylor's second touchdown and tied the game at 27.
Those are things Steve Spagnuolo will address.
And that's okay.
September football isn't supposed to look like January football.
The important thing is collecting victories while figuring out what needs fixing.
Kansas City did that.
My Take
I might have learned more about the Chiefs Sunday night than I did during the Denver blowout.
Denver showed me Kansas City's ceiling.
Indianapolis showed me its response when the game gets uncomfortable.
That's important after last season.
The Chiefs went 6–11 in 2025.
Games didn't always bounce their direction.
Close situations that once seemed almost automatic suddenly weren't.
Sunday night felt different.
Indianapolis had opportunities.
The overturned fumble could have become the kind of bizarre moment that decides a game.
The Colts tied it anyway.
Mahomes simply took the football back.
Kenneth Walker ran.
Mahomes found Walker.
Butker kicked.
Game over.
That's familiar Chiefs football.
Not because Kansas City played perfectly.
Because it didn't.
Great teams have to win games when the defense struggles.
They have to win after missed kicks.
They have to win after replay reversals.
They have to win when the opponent refuses to disappear.
Kansas City did all of that Sunday.
The Chiefs are 2–0.
Denver showed us they can dominate.
Indianapolis showed us they can survive.
A team hoping to play deep into January is going to need both.
Sources: ESPN/AP — Chiefs 33, Colts 30 game recap; Reuters — Harrison Butker's overtime field goal lifts Kansas City; Chiefs — Patrick Mahomes postgame press conference.
