The Kansas City Chiefs emerged from their overtime battle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their perfect record intact, but the franchise was much more concerned about maintaining the health of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Monday night.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mahomes appeared to suffer a scary left ankle injury while scoring a touchdown to Samaje Perine. Although the score proved crucial to Kansas City's 30-24 victory, not a single Chiefs fan at Arrowhead Stadium was in a celebratory mood as they watched their MVP quarterback require the help of medical personnel to get to the sideline to reach.

But minutes later, the home crowd erupted in a belated ovation as Mahomes emerged from the medical tent and jogged back onto the field to lead the Chiefs to victory. The fourth period first required a gutsy 15-play touchdown drive that ended with Mahomes drilling DeAndre Hopkins for the go-ahead touchdown, and later in overtime Mahomes orchestrated a 10-play touchdown drive to put Kansas City up 8:0 to bring record.

After the game, Mahomes said the injury was a sprained ankle and that he planned to play Sunday against Denver.

“I decided to run and saw Samaje at the last second,” Mahomes said of the play on which he was injured. “It scared me a little bit. … It didn’t end so badly.”

Mahomes throws a six-pointer to Perine!

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Mahomes wakes up the Chiefs offense at the perfect time

Starting midway through the fourth quarter, the Chiefs had three crucial drives to score a touchdown. Mahomes led the Chiefs to three touchdowns, the last one winning the game.

In overtime, Mahomes was brilliant, completing all five of his passes to drive the Chiefs into the red zone. Running back Kareem Hunt finished the game with a 2-yard walk-off touchdown run. — Nate Taylor, Chiefs beat writer

The scene when Mahomes returned

With 12 minutes left in regulation, fans at Arrowhead Stadium cheered as Mahomes returned to the game. What happened next was the Chiefs' most impressive performance of the season given their circumstances. Playing through a left ankle injury he had just aggravated, Mahomes and Hunt orchestrated a methodical 15-play drive in which the offense paused for more than eight minutes, did not call a penalty and scored a touchdown to make it 24: 17 to take the lead.

Mahomes continued his excellence on third downs, finding tight end Travis Kelce and receiver Justin Watson to continue the Chiefs' push. Hunt gained a lot of yards between tackles and converted a snap from four inches away near midfield. As the Chiefs faced third-and-goal from the Buccaneers' 5-yard line, Mahomes found Hopkins in a one-on-one matchup for an easy touchdown. Hopkins caught the ball after executing a sharp slant against cornerback Josh Hayes.

In his first home game as Chief, Hopkins was outstanding. He finished the game with eight receptions on nine targets for 86 yards and two touchdowns. — Taylor

Bucs threw everything they had at the Chiefs

Without his top two receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has done almost everything coach Todd Bowles could have asked of him. Despite a near-interception early in the first quarter, Mayfield did not commit a turnover and was efficient on short and intermediate passes. He finished the game with two touchdowns and completed 23 of his 31 attempts for 200 yards.

The only problem for the Buccaneers is that two decisions they made late in the game prevented them from beating the Chiefs in what would have been their best win of the season.

After scoring a touchdown with 27 seconds left, Bowles decided not to leave that offense on the field for a potentially game-winning two-point conversion attempt. As the game went into overtime, Mayfield expressed frustration at midfield when his decision to pick tails before the coin toss was not the right decision. The coin landed upside down, giving the Chiefs the ball. Mayfield was never on the field again as he watched Mahomes score another game-winning drive. –Taylor

Required reading

(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)