Patrick Mahomes suffers ankle injury, Chiefs beat Browns 21-7

The Chiefs defeated the Browns 21-7 on Sunday to improve to 13-1, but they now have a potential bigger concern with games coming up on Saturday and the following Wednesday for Christmas.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes exited the game after suffering an ankle injury in the fourth quarter when he was hit on an incomplete fourth-down pass. Mahomes was walking with a visible limp on the sideline and at the end of the game after his ankles were re-taped. Though it appeared he could have potentially come back into the contest, Carson Wentz took over for the final five minutes of the contest.

Mahomes finished the contest 19-of-38 for 159 yards with two touchdowns. He had started 12-of-19 for 112 yards in the first half, but the Browns’ defense tightened up in the third and fourth quarters.

Wentz completed 2-of-2 passes for 20 yards.

Wentz wasn’t the only backup quarterback who played in the fourth quarter, as the Browns benched Jameis Winston for second-year QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Winston’s final pass was his third interception of the day, with cornerback Trent McDuffie coming up with the first interception of his career.

In all, the Chiefs picked up six takeaways over the Browns — four interceptions and a pair of fumbles. The first came after Kansas City had gone three-and-out to open the game, with James Proche fumbling a punt return. The Chiefs recovered and a few plays later were in the end zone with Mahomes’ 7-yard touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Noah Gray caught a 6-yard touchdown from Mahomes in the second quarter to cap a 14-play, 87-yard drive. And Xavier Worthy scored on a 21-yard run in the third period.

Nick Chubb, who also exited the game with a foot injury, lost a fumble. Thompson-Robinson threw a pick to effectively end the game.

While Cleveland got into the end zone just once with Jerome Ford’s 62-yard run, Jerry Jeudy had another strong game with 11 catches for 108 yards. He has now eclipsed 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.

Myles Garrett was hit in the eye during the second quarter and had to briefly exit the contest. But he was able to return later in the period.

The Chiefs have a short week coming up, hosting the Texans on Saturday afternoon. The club is closing in on clinching the AFC’s No. 1 seed, pending the results of the rest of the Week 15 slate.

The 3-11 Browns will be in Cincinnati to take on the 6-8 Bengals in Week 16 — potentially with a different starting quarterback.