KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The instinct and trust between Patrick Mahomes and new Chiefs receiver DeAndre Hopkins was already on display in Monday night’s 30-24 overtime win against the Bucs.

Just eleven days after Kansas City sent a conditional fifth-round pick to the Titans for the 32-year-old in response to a slew of injuries, the Chiefs saw a promising connection that led to two touchdowns that helped them remain undefeated in the field. season.

“Those two, you talk about they were on the same page, they were on the same page,” coach Andy Reid said after Hopkins’ eight catches for 86 yards.

Twice, Mahomes found Hopkins to face second-year Bucs corner Josh Hayes, a special teams player forced into every assignment by multiple injuries at the position. The first gave the Chiefs a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, and the second gave them the lead with less than five minutes left.

“He’s so good at winning one-on-one,” Mahomes said after the game. “Being able to get him in the red zone, on third-down situations, he does a good job of filling in and finding the windows, just like Travis (Kelce) does. I think as he figures out the whole offense , he’s going to get even better… You give him a chance on the field, and he makes a play and goes from a play where it might have been a bad call to a big catch.

Hopkins’ first touchdown was set up by just such a throw. In the second quarter, Mahomes got blown up in the pocket and looked downfield to see Hopkins in the middle, but well covered. He threw the pass despite three Bucs defenders converging, but Hopkins came down with the ball for a 35-yard gain.

Hopkins credits his quick rapport with Mahomes to the time they spent together as teammates in less than two weeks.

“Communication, talking at practice, talking in the locker room, just communicating every day about the looks that we see and I just picked in his head and asked him what he liked,” Hopkins said. “When I’m not the rep, I’m always learning and seeing how he does things.”

Hopkins was exactly what the Chiefs needed, winning every week despite a series of injuries at receiver. Marquise Brown was lost to a season-ending shoulder injury before the season started, Rashee Rice required season-ending knee surgery after the fourth game, Skyy Moore went on injured reserve with a core muscle injury and a veteran replacement, JuJu Smith-Schuster . is also sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The Chiefs are what Hopkins needs later in his productive career. He has 81 career touchdowns but only two career playoff wins in a decade in Houston, Arizona and Tennessee. Two of his four playoff losses have come to the Chiefs and Mahomes. In the 2019 playoffs, Hopkins helped the Texans take a 24-0 lead before Kansas City roared back to win 51-31.

Monday night was a nostalgic turn for the days when the Chiefs leaned hard on Mahomes and their offense, as much of their success this season, as the NFL’s last undefeated team, has come from the defensive end. Kansas City has won fourteen straight games since last season, and most amazingly, they never scored more than 28 points in the first thirteen games, the only winning streak to last that long in NFL history.

But on Monday, after Mahomes and Hopkins gave the Chiefs a 24-17 lead with 4:17 to go, the Bucs drove down the field against Kansas City’s defense, tying the game in the final minute. Tampa opted to score an extra point to force overtime rather than try to go for two and escape with a win in regulation – and the Bucs never got the ball back. On the first possession of OT, Mahomes marched the Chiefs down the field to win on a Kareem Hunt touchdown.

Hopkins’ impact will continue to grow in the coming weeks. In his debut a week earlier, he had just three targets for two catches and 29 yards, but on Monday night he was productive, with his eight catches on nine targets.

“First of all, he’s smart and has a lot of experience,” Reid said. “We did more for him this week. (Receivers coach) Connor (Embree) is doing a good job with those guys to get them ready to go. DeAndre is a veteran player who is a smart guy, so that’s the most .”

The bar is infinitely higher in Kansas City. As the Chiefs look for the NFL’s first-ever three-peat and their fourth championship in six years, they are also making a run at history with a potential undefeated season. They’re not even halfway through the regular season yet, but an addition like Hopkins makes everything seem a little more possible.

“A blessing. Thankful to be here,” Hopkins said of his first home game with his new team. “I’m still taking it.”

Greg Auman is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. Previously, he spent ten years treating the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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