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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Kansas City Chiefs looked more like themselves, with big plays abounding. But their free-fall continued, and the New York Jets are on the rebound. Kansas City's Bennie Logan and Steven Nelson were the goats, because after their defensive penalties, the Jets finally stepped on the Chiefs' throats.
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The Jets beat the Chiefs 38-31 at MetLife Stadium, and now the pressure on K.C. probably weighs a ton.
OK, enough rhyming.
First off, Kansas City (6-6) has now lost six of seven, including four straight, and its hold atop the AFC West is now tenuous, at best. The Jets (5-7) ended a stretch of five losses in six games with one of the weirder finishes you'll ever see in an NFL game.
Logan had a personal foul penalty on a field-goal attempt with 3:58 to play to give the Jets a first down, and Nelson had a holding penalty on third down with 2:39 left to give the Jets another first down. Finally, after 10 goal-to-goal plays, quarterback Josh McCown plunged in from a yard out to give the Jets a 36-31 lead.
But the fun wasn't over. The Jets then went for two, and on the play, Nelson was again called for holding after McCown dropped back about 30 yards. Cornerback Marcus Peters had had enough at that point, chucking the penalty flag into the stands, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and leaving the field despite not being ejected.
Peters later returned to the field without his socks.
Rookie Elijah McGuire ran in the conversion to provide the final margin, and the Chiefs couldn't convert on fourth down in Jets territory on their last gasp attempt for a touchdown.
The Jets held the ball for more than 42 minutes, but the Chiefs stayed in the game with big plays, including two deep bombs from Alex Smith to Tyreek Hill, a 79-yarder to tie the game at 24 one play after the Jets capped an 18-play drive with Chandler Catanzaro's 27-yard field goal, and a 40-yarder with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter to give Kansas City a 31-30 lead.
It was announced earlier in the day that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid ceded play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, and the move seemed to pay immediate dividends in a high-scoring first quarter.
Smith, who was reportedly in danger of being benched if he had a poor game, came out firing on the opening drive, completing all four of his passes for 75 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown to tight end Travis Kelce only 2:38 into the game. The always-vivacious Kelce blew kisses to the crowd to celebrate.
After the Jets went three-and-out on their first possession, Hill returned a punt 23 yards to the Jets' 36-yard line, and on the next play, Smith found Kelce wide open after blowing by Jets rookie safety Marcus Maye for another touchdown to make it 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.
But the Jets fought back. Running back Bilal Powell capped a nine-play drive with his first touchdown since Week 4, a 1-yard dash off-tackle left, to make it 14-7 with 6:10 left in the first quarter.
McCown then bulled in from the 1-yard line, his team-leading fourth rushing touchdown of the season, to tie the game at 14 with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.
Harrison Butker gave the Chiefs a 17-14 lead with a 36-yard field goal, set up by Smith's career-long 70-yard scramble, during which he broke an attempted tackle from behind by Jets rookie safety Jamal Adams.
The Jets answered with a 10-play drive that ended with McCown hitting running back Matt Forte over the middle for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Jets a 21-17 lead with 23 seconds left in the first half.
NOTES: Jets QB Josh McCown leads the Jets with five rushing touchdowns. ... Jets RB Matt Forte had his third reception of 20-plus yards this season. ... New York WRs Jermaine Kearse and Robby Anderson each had 100-yard receiving games for the second straight week. ... Chiefs QB Alex Smith reached 20 passing touchdowns for the third time in his career (2013, 23; 2015, 20). ... Chiefs DE Allen Bailey was injured in the first quarter and did not return. ... Kansas City C Mitch Morse was injured early in the second quarter. ... Chiefs rookie K Harrison Butker missed wide right from 38 yards out, only his second miss of the season and first since his debut in Week 4.
