OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Rookie Derek Carr gave the Oakland Raiders something to celebrate for a change.

Carr threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to James Jones with 1:42 remaining, and the Raiders snapped a 16-game losing streak with a 24-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

“I been through a lot of hard times, these losses have been hard,” Carr said.

Oakland’s Latavius Murray ran for two touchdowns on four carries before leaving the game with a concussion.

The Raiders (1-10) built a 14-point lead, but needed a 17-play, 80-yard drive led by Carr to secure its first win since beating Houston on Nov. 17, 2013.

Alex Smith threw two TD passes for the Chiefs (7-4), who had won five in a row. They fell a half-game behind Denver in the AFC West.

The Raiders became just the third team since the merger to beat a first-place team for their first win after losing at least 10 games to start the season. Indianapolis did it against Green Bay in 1997 and Buffalo did it to Dallas in 1984.

The Chiefs will have a long time to stew over this loss before hosting Denver on Nov. 30 in an AFC West showdown.

It took an impressive drive by the rookie Carr to win it. He twice had to sneak for first downs. He also threw an 8-yard pass to Mychal Rivera on third-and-6 and capitalized on a pass interference penalty against Ron Parker on another third down before finding Jones for the go-ahead score.

“That was really hard-fought, they are a great team obviously, they will probably go to the playoffs and do some great things,” Carr said. “I can’t wait to see my teammates’ smiles.”

The game wasn’t sealed until Smith threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-13 from his 48. Even that didn’t come without a tense moment. Khalil Mack and Sio Moore sacked Smith on third down and celebrated in the backfield while the Chiefs ran up to the line. An angry Justin Tuck had to call timeout as he seethed at his younger teammates.

The Chiefs battled back from a 17-3 deficit late in the third quarter to take the lead with three scores in less than 8 minutes, including a pair of touchdown passes from Smith.

The first came on a looping throw to Anthony Fasano for a 19-yard score with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter.

The Raiders managed to move the ball near midfield before stalling on their next drive, and the Chiefs answered with a four-play, 65-yard drive that was made even more difficult by a pair of holding penalties.

Jamaal Charles beat Charles Woodson out of the backfield to catch a short pass and weaved through Oakland’s defense for a 30-yard score that tied it at 17. It was Charles’ fifth touchdown catch in his past two games at the Oakland Coliseum.

Frankie Hammond’s 28-yard punt return set up Cairo Santos’ second field goal of the game, giving the Chiefs their first lead of the night.

The Raiders started fast behind the little-used Murray, who had just 10 carries in the first 10 games. He spelled starter Darren McFadden on the second drive and provided an immediate spark for Oakland’s struggling offense before leaving the game with a concussion.

Murray carried twice on his first drive, sprinting 11 yards around the end for Oakland’s first rushing touchdown since Oct. 19 against Arizona. The Chiefs were looking to match the 2011 San Francisco 49ers by becoming the second team ever to allow no rushing touchdowns through 11 games.

Murray did even better the next time he touched the ball, sprinting past the Chiefs defense for the longest run by a Raiders running back since Bo Jackson had a 92-yarder against Cincinnati in 1989. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor had a 93-yard TD run last season against Pittsburgh.

Murray had 112 yards on four carries before getting hurt. He had the most yards rushing by any player since at least 1960 with five or fewer carries.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The old offensive line coach in Andy Reid could appreciate the way the Kansas City Chiefs pried open holes for Jamaal Charles to run free against Seattle on Sunday.

He could appreciate the way their defensive front stepped up, too.

Given a lead thanks largely to the legs of their dazzling running back, the Chiefs held the Seahawks on fourth down three times in the final quarter. The result was a tense 24-20 victory that pushed Kansas City into a first-place tie with the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

“We’re sitting there with three fourth-down plays late in the game,” Reid said, “and they stepped up and did a phenomenal job there getting off the field.”

As for Charles, who finished with 159 yards and two touchdowns?

“He’s Jamaal Charles,” Reid said. “He’s a special player.”

Russell Wilson threw for 178 yards and two TDs for the Seahawks, and Marshawn Lynch had 124 yards rushing. But Lynch, fresh off a four-touchdown game, was stuffed twice by the Kansas City defense with the outcome hanging in the balance.

The Seahawks’ last-chance drive ended when Wilson threw incomplete on fourth-and-18 at their 20-yard line with 1:13 left.

“They had a great defense,” Wilson said. “They just made a great play.”

The Chiefs’ first fourth-down stop came with about 6 minutes to go. Lynch was tackled after a 2-yard gain on third down, and coach Pete Carroll elected to gamble at the Chiefs 2. Wilson saw Doug Baldwin in the corner of the end zone but badly overthrew him.

Seattle (6-4) held to get the ball back and appeared to convert a third down with a completion at the Chiefs 35. Reid wisely challenged the spot, though, and replays showed wide receiver Jermaine Kearse was a full yard short. The Seahawks again went for it, and Lynch was stuffed for no gain with less than 4 minutes to go.

By the time the Seahawks got the ball back one last time, they were pinned so deep in their own territory with such little time on the clock that it hardly mattered.

Lynch left without speaking to reporters.

“Every game we’ve lost this season it seems like it’s come down to the last play, whether it’s defense or offense,” Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett said. “That’s the name of the game.”

It made sense the two playoff contenders would wage an old-school, back-and-forth affair. Both are built in the same mold, featuring stout defenses and strong running games.

Kansas City struck first with a relentless 15-play drive that took up more than 9 minutes of the first half and ended with Charles’ 1-yard touchdown run. Seattle answered with its own 16-play drive, chewing up exactly 9 minutes and ending with Wilson’s TD pass to Baldwin.

Nothing really changed the rest of the half.

Charles broke two long runs on the Chiefs’ next possession, including a 16-yard touchdown. Lynch came back with a punishing series of carries to help set up a field goal.

The Chiefs overcame two fumbles that led to Seattle scores. Travis Kelce lost the ball near midfield late in the first half, and the Seahawks capitalized with a field goal.

Then Charles was fighting for extra yardage again near midfield in the third quarter when he was stripped of the ball.

“I was doing too much,” Charles said. “I just lost it as I was going down.”

Five plays later, Wilson hit tight end Tony Moeaki — who spent most of his first four injury-plagued seasons with Kansas City — with a short touchdown toss for a 20-17 lead.

Once again turning to Charles, the Chiefs answered. The elusive running back put a nifty juke on Earl Thomas and scampered 47 yards before getting pushed out of bounds. Gassed, Charles watched as Knile Davis capped the drive to give the Chiefs a 24-20 lead.

Then he watched his defense make it stick.

“It was a heartbreaking loss,” Wilson said. “We thought we could have or should have won it.”

Game notes

Seahawks WR Ricardo Lockette was ejected in the second half for throwing a right hook at Chiefs CB Kurt Coleman. … Seattle C Max Unger was carted off with a high ankle sprain and twisted knee midway through the fourth quarter. Patrick Lewis finished in his place. … Charles had not run for 100 yards in any game this season.

— Associated Press —

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t flinch in the face of adversity.

For Leodis McKelvin and the Buffalo Bills, they endured a familiar late-game meltdown for a franchise that has had little go its way during a 14-season playoff drought — the NFL’s longest active streak.

Smith, on an 8-yard run, and Jamaal Charles, on a 39-yard scamper on fourth-and-1, scored less than five minutes apart as the Chiefs overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a 17-13 win over the bumbling Bills on Sunday.

“I think there is something to winning these types of games,” Smith said. “There’s a different type of confidence you get when you win games like this.”

The Chiefs (6-3) came out on top in a key midseason AFC showdown by improving to 6-1 in their past seven games.

It was a different mood altogether in Buffalo’s locker room after the Bills (5-4) unraveled coming out of their bye week. McKelvin had difficulty containing his anger in issuing a series of profanity-laced answers in discussing how his fumble helped cost Buffalo the game.

“I take this … to heart,” McKelvin said. “I fumbled the ball. It hurt us. But we still had a chance to come back and win the game. (Stuff) happens in the game. But you’ve still got to overcome it.”

The outcome turned early in the fourth quarter with Buffalo clinging to a 13-10 lead.

The Bills’ defense forced a three-and-out, forcing the Chiefs to punt out of their own end zone.

McKelvin fielded Dustin Colquitt’s punt cleanly at his own 31 and took a few steps to his right. That’s when he was hit by Albert Wilson. Anthony Sherman then knocked the ball loose and recovered the fumble at the Bills’ 26.

Two plays later, Smith faked a handoff to the right to Charles and then took off left for the go-ahead score with nearly nine minutes left.

“There’s going to be games like this where everything is not pretty and you have to play through it, and there’s a certain toughness that it takes,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And our guys showed that today.”

The Chiefs’ defense showed that in ending any chances of Buffalo manufacturing a comeback after McKelvin’s 23-yard punt return gave the Bills the ball at Kansas City’s 25 with 4:35 remaining.

The drive stalled at the 15, when Kyle Orton threw four consecutive incompletions, including an underthrown attempt to Sammy Watkins at the 1 on fourth down. Defensive back Ron Parker knocked down three Orton attempts, while another sailed through the end zone past Chris Hogan.

Orton went 29-of-48 for 259 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown to Hogan. Marcell Dareus had three of Buffalo’s six sacks.

Very little went right for the Bills’ offense after Orton hit Hogan for a 25-yard touchdown to cap the opening drive. Buffalo then managed two field goals, lost a fumble and turned the ball over on downs in four trips inside the Chiefs’ 20.

The lost fumble was crucial in opening the second half. Running back Bryce Brown was three steps from the end zone when he had the ball punched out of his hands by Parker. The ball bounced into the end zone, where tight end Scott Chandler had it go off his fingers and out for a touchback.

“It’s disappointing, it’s frustrating, all those words,” Chandler said. “I don’t know what to say about it. We’ve got to be better.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Bills, who had a two-game win streak snapped and fell to 2-4 against conference rivals. They face a key test in a short week — at division rival Miami on Thursday night.

This marked the fourth time during their playoff drought the Bills lost after compiling a 5-3 record. Buffalo hasn’t had six or more wins through nine games since 1999, the last time it made the playoffs.

The Chiefs, who opened last season at 9-0, find themselves on another roll and in the thick of a jumbled AFC playoff race.

“It’s just crazy how the NFL is going this year,” offensive tackle Eric Fisher said. “It was a huge AFC game for us. Getting that win, being 6-3, that sounds pretty good.”

Charles finished with 98 yards rushing, Smith went 17-of-29 for 177 yards and Dwayne Bowe had eight catches for 93 years.

Game notes

Chiefs RB Cyrus Gray sustained a torn knee ligament. Reid said TE Demetrius Harris broke his foot before the game. … Bills WR Marquise Goodwin did not return after hurting his ribs in the fourth quarter. … Bills RB Fred Jackson was limited to 10 yards rushing and 39 yards receiving in his first game after hurting his groin three week ago.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith insisted he was looking for Dwayne Bowe in the end zone, a rarity considering the Chiefs quarterback has yet to throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver this season.

What happened next in their 24-10 victory over the Jets on Sunday was even rarer.

The pass was batted at the line of scrimmage by Jets linebacker Calvin Pace. It bounced right into the hands of tight end Anthony Fasano, who had been blocked to the ground, and he rolled over across the goal-line for a touchdown that extended the Chiefs’ lead to two scores.

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“I don’t know what to say,” Smith said, smiling. “A freaky play.”

Just the kind of play that’s been going Kansas City’s way during a three-game win streak — and the kind that has been going against New York during its eight-game skid.

The Jets’ losing streak is their longest since 1996, when they went 1-15 in their final year under Rich Kotite. The franchise has never lost nine in a row, an embarrassment embattled coach Rex Ryan and his troops will try to avoid next Sunday against Pittsburgh.

“I thought it was typical of how this season’s gone for us,” Ryan said of the bizarre bounce that led to Fasano’s touchdown. “That’s what I thought.”

Smith finished with 199 yards and two touchdowns passing, and Jamaal Charles ran for another score for the Chiefs (5-3), who won for the fifth time in six games on the same day that former running back Priest Holmes was inducted into their ring of honor.

Starting his first game with the Jets (1-8) in place of Geno Smith, Michael Vick threw for 196 yards and a touchdown. He briefly left early in the fourth quarter after taking a massive hit from the Chiefs’ Josh Mauga and walking unsteadily off the field, but returned to finish.

Smith was inactive with a shoulder injury, so Matt Simms had to play one series.

“My head hit the ground, but it was cool,” Vick said. “Initially, I was dinged for a minute. But I respect the NFL rules and the concussion protocol. I went through it. I took all the appropriate steps and I passed all the tests and I came back.”

New York actually moved the ball well through gusty conditions, utilizing Percy Harvin in the running and passing games. But the Jets kept misfiring deep in Chiefs territory, settling for a field goal just before halftime and then turning it over on downs at the Kansas City 3 early in the fourth quarter — Vick was injured on that fourth-down play.

In all, the Jets were stopped on fourth down three times in the fourth quarter.

“We had some opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them,” said Vick, who will start next Sunday against Pittsburgh. “Whenever that happens, and the other team does capitalize on theirs, you don’t finding yourself winning the game.”

The Chiefs set the tempo from the opening drive, moving 81 yards in relative ease. Charles was the workhorse, carrying six times and capping the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge.

After the Chiefs forced three-and-out, it took them just seven more plays to score again — this time on a play that encapsulated the way everything has been going right for Kansas City, and the way everything has been going wrong for New York.

With first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, Smith’s pass was knocked down by Pace. But the nice defensive play sent the ball right to Fasano, who caught the inadvertent pass on his rump, rolled over the goal line and gave the Chiefs a stunning — if not humorous — touchdown for a 14-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ defense was getting after Vick every time he dropped to pass.

Justin Houston, who had 4 1/2 sacks of Vick when he faced the Eagles a year ago, had two more on the elusive quarterback Sunday. Defensive tackle Dontari Poe also tracked Vick down for a sack, all before Mauga knocked him from the game with his crushing blow in the fourth quarter.

The only bright spot for the Jets was the play of Harvin, who caught 11 passes for 129 yards in his second game since getting traded from Seattle. Harvin showed the speed and shiftiness that the Jets were hoping he would provide when they made the deal.

It was just far too little in a game dominated by Kansas City’s defense.

“When we were 0-2, nobody really believed in us. We’re 5-3 right now, and pretty sure nobody believes in us,” Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali said. “Our goal is to continue to believe in what we’re doing and win games. That’s all that matters around here.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jamaal Charles shredded the Rams on a pair of touchdown runs. Knile Davis returned a kickoff 99 yards for another score. The Chiefs sacked St. Louis quarterback Austin Davis seven times.

If there was a fourth phase to football, Kansas City probably would have dominated that, too.

After spotting their cross-state rivals the first touchdown, the Chiefs turned up the pressure in every way Sunday. The result was a 34-7 victory, their sixth straight in the series dating to Sept. 24, 1994, when the Rams were still based in Los Angeles.

“Any time you play good in all three facets, you’re going to win a lot of games,” said Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, “and it felt like we did that.”

Charles, who last week became the Chiefs’ career rushing leader, powered over the left side of the line for a touchdown in the first quarter. He added a 36-yard score early in the fourth, dodging a defender at the line of scrimmage and then accelerating past the Rams’ defense.

Cairo Santos added a pair of field goals for Kansas City (4-3), including a career-best 53-yarder right before halftime. Smith was 24 of 28 for 226 yards, and Davis capped the string of 34 unanswered points with a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

By that point, the banged-up Rams (2-5) were just trying to survive.

“It’s disappointing,” said coach Jeff Fisher, whose team was coming off a victory over Seattle. “We had a great week, a short-lived bit of momentum, and we weren’t able to put it all together.”

Austin Davis finished 15 of 25 for 160 yards with a touchdown and an interception, three of his sacks coming at the hands of Justin Houston. It didn’t help that left tackle Jake Long, right guard Rodger Saffold and center Scott Wells sustained injuries during the game.

The Rams were also playing with an injury-depleted defensive backfield.

“You looked at the injuries they had today, they had three or four rookies starting for them on the defensive side,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That’s tough.”

The Rams’ running back by committee proved to be a bust, too. Benny Cunningham, Zac Stacy and Tre Mason were bottled up all game, and St. Louis managed just 84 yards on 19 carries.

“They took some things away and when that happens you’ve got to find a way to get some momentum offensively,” Davis said, “and we weren’t able to do that. But my hat really goes off to them. They did a really good job and made a lot of good plays.”

The Rams jumped to a 7-0 lead on a pass from Davis to tight end Lance Kendricks on the opening series, but everything went the Chiefs’ way the rest of the game.

Special teams had a lot to do with it.

One week after the Rams used two long returns and an audacious punt fake to beat Seattle, they watched as Greg Zuerlein missed a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter to keep the game 7-7.

Santos hit his 53-yarder for a 10-7 lead right before halftime.

The Chiefs got the ball back to start the third quarter. Knile Davis fielded the kickoff on a bounce, veered to his right and picked up a key block from James-Michael Johnson before going the rest of the way for his second career TD return.

Davis, who also had a franchise-long 108-yard kickoff return touchdown as a rookie in 2013, is the fifth player in history with a kickoff-return touchdown of at least 99 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons.

Santos added his second field-goal and Charles punctuated a big day for the offense when he took a carry up the middle, left a defender grasping for air and outran the entire secondary for his second score of the game.

Davis added a 3-yard touchdown plunge in the final minutes as chants of “Let’s Go Royals” filled Arrowhead Stadium.

“We clearly got outplayed in the second half of this game in all three phases,” Fisher said. “It wasn’t a good effort and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

— Associated Press —

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Alex Smith knows Qualcomm Stadium well, from teaming with Reggie Bush to lead Helix High to consecutive San Diego Section championships to throwing five touchdown passes against San Diego State for Utah in its BCS-busting season of 2004.

Smith earned his first NFL victory at the aging concrete bowl in Mission Valley on Sunday, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 23-20 victory against San Diego that snapped the Chargers’ five-game winning streak.

“There might be something to it. I’m definitely comfortable here,” Smith said. “I’ve played a lot here — high school, college and as a professional. I think it had more to do with executing out there for sure.”

That, he did. Smith completed three straight passes for 43 yards on the drive capped by rookie Cairo Santos’s winning 48-yard field goal with 21 seconds left.

Just like that, the Chiefs made the AFC West a three-team race.

Coming off their bye, the Chiefs (3-3) pulled within 1 1/2 games of San Diego (5-2). The Denver Broncos (4-1) hosted San Francisco on Sunday night. Had the Chiefs lost, they would have dropped three games behind San Diego.

“I think this team is in a good place mentally,” Smith said. “We took this challenge on, and we had two weeks to get ready with the bye week. We took it on as a challenge with no one giving us a chance. We felt like coming into this game, we were a couple plays away from being 4-1. This was an opportunity for us to kind of show what we’re made of, show the country. I feel like we’re in a good place and we’ll keep going.”

Coach Andy Reid, in his second season with the Chiefs, improved his career record in games following a bye week to 14-2 (.875), the most victories of any NFL head coach in games following a bye week.

“I don’t think there’s a secret to it,” said Reid, who compiled most of that post-bye magic while coaching Philadelphia. “When we have good players and good coaches, good things happen. I’ve been lucky enough to be in those situations.”

The Chargers flunked their sternest test in a month and lost for the first time since a defeat at Arizona in the season opener.

Jamaal Charles scored once and gained 95 yards to give him 6,113 for his career, moving him to the top of Kansas City’s career list. He passed Priest Holmes, who had 6,070.

“That was my first time winning here,” Charles said. “That was big, it was a big win. That’s a good team, they have a great defense, great quarterback on their side. That was an amazing game to pull off today. The team fought with will and we went out there to play a great game.”

Charles weaved in and out of traffic to score on a 16-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Former teammate Brandon Flowers leveled him a yard into the end zone, too late to keep the Chiefs from tying it at 7.

Flowers later left the game with a concussion.

“Flowers put a big hit on me, but I’m thankful that I got up healthy,” Charles said.

The Chargers, facing an established quarterback for the first time in four games, allowed Smith to complete 19 of 28 passes for 221 yards.

Now they travel to face the Broncos.

“When you win five in a row, losing stinks,” San Diego’s Philip Rivers said. “We have to handle it right and get ready to go to Denver on Thursday night and not let this thing go to two in a row.”

Rivers was 17 of 31 for 205 yards and two touchdowns. After setting an NFL record with five straight games with a passer rating of 120 or better, he tumbled to 83.4.

Smith had given the Chiefs a 20-14 lead with an 11-yard touchdown pass to fullback Anthony Sherman with 14:50 left.

Sherman broke a tackle inside the 10 and scored to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive. On the previous play, a holding call against Chargers cornerback Richard Marshall nullified a sack of Smith and gave the Chiefs a first down at the 11.

The Chargers got to the Kansas City 6 before Rivers threw two straight incompletions and San Diego had to settle for Nick Novak’s 24-yard field goal to close to 20-17.

Novak kicked a 48-yarder to tie the game with 1:57 left.

Novak has 31 straight field goal conversions, breaking John Carney’s team record of 29 set in 1992-93.

Antonio Gates caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Rivers just before halftime. It was the 67th career TD pass from Rivers to Gates, the most in NFL history from a quarterback to a tight end.

— Associated Press —

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The day began with another round of questions about the relationship between Jim Harbaugh and his players. It ended with him putting a lot of trust in them to make a big play.

And just as Harbaugh’s teams usually do, the San Francisco 49ers delivered.

The 49ers converted a gutsy fake punt from deep in their territory and leaned on five field goals from Phil Dawson to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 22-17 on Sunday, quieting the drama around Harbaugh’s future for at least one more week.

“The football team has done good. And the better you do and the more you do, the more people try to trip you up,” Harbaugh said. Later, he added: “My destiny lies between these walls with these men.”

Reports have appeared since the offseason that players aren’t particularly happy with Harbaugh, and the latest caused 49ers CEO and acting owner Jed York to speak out.

About three hours before kickoff, York posted on Twitter: “Jim is my coach. We are trying to win a SB (Super Bowl), not a personality or popularity contest. Any more questions?”

Harbaugh and his players helped answer some of them with a critical call late, spoiling the return of former franchise quarterback Alex Smith in the process.

The 49ers (3-2) turned to a trick play on fourth-and-1 from their 29 early in the fourth quarter, giving a direct snap to Craig Dahl for a 3-yard run up the middle. Colin Kaepernick directed the offense downfield, and Dawson kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8:42 to play for the go-ahead score.

“It doesn’t matter where they’re called on the field. You just have to execute,” Dahl said. “See the ball, catch it, tuck it away and go.”

Dawson also connected from 55, 52, 35 and 30 yards. He credited Harbaugh and the coaching staff for having confidence in him to make the kicks, particularly the two long ones.

Kaepernick threw for 201 yards and a touchdown, and Frank Gore ran for 107 yards to offset the absence of injured tight end Vernon Davis.

The 49ers smothered Smith and the Chiefs (2-3) for most of the second half, including twice in the closing moments. Smith threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns, but Perrish Cox intercepted his overthrown pass to end any chance Kansas City’s comeback.

“It’s tough, you’re competitive, you want to win the game. Some of those guys I played a long time with,” said Smith, who completed 17 of 31 passes.

San Francisco sparked the offense with the fake punt, and even more big plays followed. Brandon Lloyd made a leaping 29-yard catch over 6-foot-3 Sean Smith — “basketball’s version of the alley-oop,” Lloyd said — to extend San Francisco’s drive again and set up Dawson’s fourth field goal.

Dawson also lined up for a 54-yard field goal with 4:19 remaining after San Francisco stopped Kansas City. But the Chiefs were penalized for having 12 players on the field, handing the 49ers a first down. Dawson finished the drive with a 30-yard field goal.

Smith and Kansas City took over with 2:12 left and another chance to rally. But Smith sailed a pass to tight end Anthony Fasano, and Cox swooped in for an easy interception.

“I thought he handled (the environment) like a champ,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Smith.

On a sun-touched day that sent temperatures into the low 90s in Silicon Valley, both offenses started out hot.

Smith completed six of eight passes for 61 yards on the game’s opening drive, capping it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce. Jamaal Charles ran for 80 yards to eclipse Larry Johnson (6,015 yards) for second place on Kansas City’s career rushing list, but was mostly a nonfactor late.

San Francisco scored on all three of its possessions in the first half, though the first two ended with Dawson’s big right leg. Kaepernick finished off the third drive where he wanted, rolling to his right and lofting a 9-yard pass to a wide-open Stevie Johnson to give the 49ers a 13-10 lead.

The Chiefs stopped San Francisco to start the third quarter, and De’Anthony Thomas ran his first punt return 28 yards, then caught a short screen and sprinted 17 yards for a score to put the Chiefs back in front, 17-13.

But San Francisco stayed focused and never lost its cool.

— Associated Press —