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Football

Five takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football

Five takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night FootballAl Bello/Getty Images
Plenty to unpack from the Chiefs' overtime win.

It's not that the defending back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are blowing teams out. It's more that they keep finding ways to manufacture wins. 

Monday Night Football was another example of just that as the Chiefs produced a 30-24 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve to 8-0.

With plenty to unpack here, DAZN lists five takeaways from the Chiefs' OT win.

Nothing rattles Patrick Mahomes

While rolling to his right and buying time en route to tossing a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Samaje Perine, Mahomes tweaked his ankle.

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The sight of him hopping on one foot and needing help off the field made Arrowhead Stadium take a collective deep breath.

Yet, the star quarterback once again proved his resilience by emerging from the Chiefs' medical tent, jogging out of it to the crowd's delight.

Despite that rolled ankle, he'd go on to manufacture two scoring drives, including the decisive one in OT, to lead the Chiefs to victory. The three-time Super Bowl champion is downright unflappable and he just keeps finding ways to add to his growing legend.

Mahomes, Chiefs mastered third down conversions

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By and large, the Chiefs' overtime win Monday night was decided by their third-down dominance.

Altogether, they converted 11-of-15 third downs for a 73 percent clip. Within those marks, Mahomes was 11-for-13 passing on third down and all four Chiefs' TDs came on third down.

Absolute brilliance from the Chiefs.

DeAndre Hopkins is a monster in 1-on-1 coverage

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Hopkins in 1-on-1 coverage gives Mahomes a big, trusted target who will feast in these opportunities.

The veteran wideout hauled in eight receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns Monday night and that came on nine targets as the 32-year-old was damn-near unstoppable.

Hopkins was an excellent pick up by the Chiefs who are looking to become the first team in NFL history to Super Bowl three-peat.

Hopkins' touchdowns marked his first and second TDs with the Chiefs. And from the looks of things, he's just getting started.

Kareem Hunt ran like a man possessed

With the Chiefs trailing 17-10 in the third quarter, Hunt started running like a man possessed.

The final damages: 106 yards rushing and the game-winning touchdown on 27 carries — a majority of which came in the second half.

His physical, plowing rushing style forces defenses to be honest in the box, which opens up passing avenues for Mahomes.

Not to mention, sticking with the ground game allows the Chiefs to chew up the clock. The Chiefs' two fourth quarter touchdowns came on drives of a combined 15-minutes plus, largely in thanks to Hunt piling on the yards.

Todd Bowles might be kicking himself over not going for the win

You never want to give Patrick Mahomes a chance. Todd Bowles did and it wound up costing the Buccaneers.

When Baker Mayfield found Ryan Miller for a touchdown to complete a 10-play, 71-yard drive with 27 seconds left, the Buccaneers head coach had the chance to tie the game with an extra point or go for the victory with a two-point conversion.

He chose the former option and the Bucs knotted the game up.

Though Mahomes and the Chiefs had a three and out toward the end of regulation, they'd win the OT coin toss and elect to receive it.

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Mahomes would then guide the champs on a decisive 10-play, 70-yard drive for the Chiefs' win.

Of course, there will be critics who say you've got to tie the game in a situation like that and point toward the safer XP. However, I'm of the belief that you don't let a coin toss in overtime decide your fate. I would have liked to see the Bucs go for the two-point conversion as they snatched momentum with the touchdown before it.