PATRICK MAHOMES THREW for two touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs bounced back from their season-opening loss to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Mahomes overcame a slow start to finish with 305 yards from 29-of-41 passes to give the reigning Super Bowl champions a gritty 17-9 win on the road in Florida.

Mahomes and the Chiefs had been upset at home by the Detroit Lions in their opening game of the season after a litany of blunders by the receiving corps.

But with fit-again tight end Travis Kelce back in the starting line-up, Mahomes looked more like his old self as the Chiefs dug deep for a hard-earned victory.

Mahomes picked out favourite target Kelce for a third quarter touchdown after earlier connecting with Skyy Moore for the Chiefs’ other touchdown.

The Buffalo Bills meanwhile responded to Monday’s season-opening defeat to the New York Jets with a 38-10 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo raised hopes of a Vegas upset after finding Davante Adams for the game’s opening touchdown at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium.

But thereafter it was all Buffalo, with quarterback Josh Allen taking over to pilot the Bills to a blowout victory.

Allen tossed three touchdowns with no interceptions and finished with 274 yards from 31-of-37 attempts.

But while the Chiefs and Bills got back to winning ways, the Cincinnati Bengals fell to 0-2 after a 27-24 loss to divisional rivals Baltimore.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns and 237 yards as Bengals counterpart Joe Burrow once again struggled to get into the groove.

Burrow led a late rally to close the Bengals’ deficit to three points with a pass to Tee Higgins in the end zone with 3:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But Baltimore held on to possession on the next drive to run down the clock as the Ravens improved to 2-0.

In Detroit meanwhile, Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s bid to set a new NFL record for the longest passing streak without an interception came to an abrupt end in a 37-31 overtime defeat to the Seattle Seahawks in the Motor City.

Goff had been within touching distance of Aaron Rodgers’ record of 402 passes without a takeaway after moving to 383 attempts without an interception.

But the streak ended when Goff was picked off by Tre Brown in the fourth quarter for a touchdown to help Seattle into 31-21 lead.

Goff led a spirited 10-point rally which culminated with Riley Patterson slotting a 38-yard field goal to force overtime, but Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith found Tyler Lockett for the winning score in overtime.

Elsewhere Sunday, the Tennessee Titans held on for a narrow 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Nashville, while the Houston Texans slumped to a 31-20 loss against the Indianapolis Colts.

In Atlanta meanwhile, the Falcons fought back from 24-12 down early in the fourth quarter to dig out a 25-24 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Koo Younghoe kicked a 25-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining to seal the Falcons win as Atlanta improved to 2-0.

– © AFP 2023

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