Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from 2 yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two TD receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a 2-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Saints fire Allen as head coach

The New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen on Monday, a day after a loss at last-place Carolina extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — their longest since 1999.

“DA is an excellent football coach,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. “This season, we’ve had an avalanche of injuries. It took its toll. DA has never offered excuses. He fought each day for this organization and this team and that is what makes today disappointing.”

The Saints named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi the club’s interim coach for the final eight games of what is trending toward a fourth straight season without a playoff berth for New Orleans (2-7).

“This is not a day for celebration,” Rizzi said. “This is a tough day. At the same time, there’s only one way to fight through this.”

The 54-year-old Rizzi said he embraced the challenge he’s inherited because “I embrace everything.”

“I only know how to do things one way. I grew up a little bit of a fighter. I’ve really never really been handed anything,” Rizzi said, noting that he was a walk-on tight end in college at Rhode Island, an undrafted free agent with the Eagles in 1992 and got his first head coaching job with Division II New Haven in 1999.

Allen went 18-25 without a playoff appearance since taking over in 2022 after Sean Payton, the most successful coach in Saints history, began what turned out to be a one-season retirement from coaching.

Allen was promoted by Loomis after a six-season tenure as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, a period that saw his unit ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.

“Dennis has been a part of our organization for many years,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said, referring to Allen’s initial stint as a defensive assistant with New Orleans from 2006 to 2010. “He has been extremely loyal and professional.

“All of this makes today very tough for me and our organization,” Benson added. “However, this decision is something that I felt we needed to make at this time.”

In a written statement released by the team, Allen thanked Benson and Loomis for his opportunity, calling the Saints an “organization that will always be near and dear to my heart.”

McCaffrey returns to practice for 49ers

San Francisco 49ers All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey returned to practice for the first time in nearly two months as he hopes to return from an Achilles tendon injury for the second half of the season.

The Niners opened the practice window for McCaffrey on Monday, giving the team a three-week window to activate him from injured reserve. McCaffrey took part in a brief practice as San Francisco returned from a bye week and could play on Sunday against Tampa Bay if all goes well at practice this week.

“It’s such an amazing feeling to see that 2-3 out there doing an extensive warmup and doing the million high knees he does before practice,” All-Pro left tackle Trent Willimas said. “It was great seeing him.”

McCaffrey has been dealing with Achilles tendinitis since early August. He missed almost all of training camp before returning to practice just before the season opener. He was scratched at the last minute before that game against the Jets on Sept. 9 and then had a setback at practice Sept. 12.

He was placed on injured reserve two days later and spent the past seven weeks resting and rehabilitating, including a trip to Germany for treatment.

The 49ers (4-4) are counting on McCaffrey’s return for a second-half boost. San Francisco has sputtered in the first half of the season with the offense scoring 3.9 fewer points per game than last season.

“You could put him in any offense and that would make it better,” Williams said. “Obviously, our offense is kind of tailor-made to him and some of his strengths so it definitely will be a tremendous lift for us.”

Vikings lose long snapper, kicker

Injuries to All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola and rookie kicker Will Reichard had the Minnesota Vikings assessing their options Monday for temporary replacements in an midseason disruption to what has been one of the NFL’ s most productive kicking operations.

DePaola will have minor surgery on his hand and need to be placed on short-term injured reserve, coach Kevin O’Connell said. Reichard has a quadriceps injury that was being evaluated by the medical staff, with his availability for the next game still being determined and a possibility he’ll need a sub too.