CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes continues to build great chemistry with his tight end — just not the one you might think.
Mahomes threw two touchdown passes to Noah Gray for the second straight week as the Kansas City Chiefs held off the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on Sunday. A week after losing at Buffalo, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (10-1) maintained their position atop the AFC.
Mahomes completed a 35-yard touchdown strike to Gray on the game’s opening possession and found him again for an 11-yard TD in the second quarter.
Gray has four touchdown catches in the last two weeks — twice as many as nine-time Pro Bowler Travis Kelce has all season — and has become a weapon in the passing game for the Chiefs, who lost top wide receiver Rashee Rice to a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
Kelce was still a factor Sunday with a team-high six catches for 62 yards, although the four-time All-Pro looked dejected after dropping one easy pass.
Kelce has 62 receptions for 507 yards this season, while Gray has 26 catches for 249 yards.
But Gray's development is a good sign for the Chiefs — and he's on the same page with Mahomes.
On his second TD, Gray said Mahomes “gave me the answer to the test there” before the play.
“He told me what coverage it was pre-snap," said Gray, who had four receptions for 66 yards. “That’s just the blessing you have of playing with a quarterback like that. Offensive line did a great job blocking that up and the receivers did a great job running their routes to pop me open. Really just a group effort right there on that touchdown.”
Gray said that's nothing new.
“Pat’s preparation, his leadership is just something that I’m fortunate enough to play alongside,” Gray said. "I love it. It gets me motivated every time we go out there for a long drive. Having a leader like that, that prepares every single week in-and out, knows defenses, knows the game plans.
“I’m just fortunate enough to play alongside a guy like that.”
Mahomes completed 27 of 37 passes for 269 yards and three TDs, and he knew what to do on the second TD to Gray.
“It's not just me, it's the quarterback coaches and the players, we go through certain checks you get to versus certain coverages,” Mahomes said. “I was able to see by the way they lined up they were getting into their cover-zero look. I alerted the guys to make sure they saw what I saw and I gave the check at the line of scrimmage.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Steve Reed, The Associated Press
