Jets can't stop Kenneth Walker, who scores three TDs in Kansas City rout

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw for 242 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to Kenneth Walker, who added 102 yards and a score on the ground, and Kansas City got back on track with a 35-12 rout of the hapless Jets on Sunday.

Walker finished with 143 yards from scrimmage and Kansas City sacked Geno Smith five times while keeping the Jets out of the end zone, allowing Kansas City (6-2) to erase the stink of consecutive losses to the Seahawks and Broncos.

Smith finished with 165 yards passing for the Jets (2-7), who lost their fourth straight. They were credited with minus-9 yards of offense in the third quarter, when Kansas City scored a pair of touchdowns that turned a 14-12 halftime lead into a comfortable victory.

Kansas City has beaten the Jets in each of their last three meetings.

The Jets, missing star wide receiver Garrett Wilson to a concussion, were reduced to running the ball with Braelon Allen or Breece Hall — back from a quadriceps injury for the first time in five games — or having Smith throw short passes to rookie Omar Cooper Jr.

They were able to move the ball that way for a while. They just couldn't get into the end zone.

One week after Jason Sanders kicked four field goals in a loss to the Raiders, he made four in the first half alone in Kansas City. It would have been five had Sanders not missed from 53 yards with less than a minute to go in the first half.

Kansas City, meanwhile, lost a fumble when backup quarterback Justin Fields was trying a sneak on third-and-1. They lost another one when Mahomes was sacked by the Jets' David Bailey for the second time in three plays, leaving the two-time MVP flexing his throwing elbow in pain. And then they watched embattled kicker Harrison Butker miss yet another field goal in the first half.

Butker actually missed twice: He got a do-over after missing from 56 yards because of a penalty, then missed again.

It was thanks to Walker, who was largely held in check by Seattle and Denver, that Kansas City took a lead into the break. His first touchdown reception came on the first play of the second quarter, and his second was a 25-yard screen pass in which offensive guards Trey Smith and Kingsley Suamataia laid down a trail of pancakes for him to follow.

Walker did most of the work on a 60-yard TD drive to start the second half, too, though it was a lateral by Mahomes along the line of scrimmage to Travis Kelce on fourth-and-goal at the Jets' 1 that finally got Kansas City into the end zone.

Kansas City put the game out of reach later in the third quarter, after a 69-yard punt return was wiped out by penalty. Walker carried six times on an eight-play, 82-yard march, and his touchdown run made it 28-12 and gave him his third career three-TD game.

Wilson (concussion), linebacker Trevin Wallace (groin), defensive end Joseph Ossai (ankle) and cornerback Nahshon Wright (back) were inactive for the Jets, who face Buffalo at home next Sunday.