KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes walked onto the field for a poignant penalty, then the Chiefs and Packers rested most of their starters in their preseason finale Thursday night, which Kansas City won 17-10 behind two touchdown passes from Shane Buechele.
The third-stringer outplayed longtime Chiefs backup Chad Henne, throwing for 166 yards with both of his scoring strikes to journeyman tight end Matt Bushman, who later left with a shoulder injury and did not return.
The Packers’ Jordan Love threw for 148 yards with an interception in his final work before Aaron Rodgers takes over for the regular season. Trent Goodson ran for 28 yards and a score as he tries to win the No. 3 running back job for Green Bay.
The lasting memory Thursday night wasn’t the score or a play, though, but Mahomes’ penalty.
It came after the first-team Chiefs defense forced the Packers, playing their starting offensive line with Love and a host of backups, to a 3-and-out to start the game. Mahomes headed onto the field with most of Kansas City’s starting offense and lined them up in a choir huddle — the old-fashioned style favored by Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson.
Mahomes allowed the clock to run out but the delay-of-game penalty was announced not on his No. 15 but on No. 16, the number that Dawson wore during his playing days. It was among the many tributes to the Chiefs icon and longtime NFL broadcaster, who died this week at the age of 87.
TEXANS 17, 49ERS 0
HOUSTON — Davis Mills threw a touchdown pass to Chris Moore to help Houston beat San Francisco.
Mills was 6 for 10 for 58 yards with an interception. He played the entire first half and the first drive of the second half, finishing off his night with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Moore.
Mills’ second-quarter interception hit the hands of Moore in the end zone, but was deflected by Samuel Womack III and picked off by Tarvarius Moore.
San Francisco starting quarterback Trey Lance was 7 for 11 for 49 yards on three scoreless drives.