Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ win vs. the Browns in Cleveland

At long last, the Chiefs have a two-possession win.

But with a cost.

The Chiefs beat the Browns 21-7, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.

We’ll know more on his status in the post-game remarks, along with the coming days.

For now, here are five observations from immediately after Sunday’s game:

1. Patrick Mahomes leaves game with ankle injury

Patrick Mahomes spent far too much time doing what Patrick Mahomes has already spent far too much time doing this season.

Absorbing hits.

What’s new?

Well, it’s one too many now.

Mahomes left the game after getting sandwiched between defenders on a fourth-down attempt that the Chiefs never should’ve been making in the first place. He injured his ankle, limping heavily off the field.

On the next possession, Carson Wentz replaced him, a decision likely made in part due to the situation — the Chiefs leading by 14 late in the fourth.

Mahomes has taken a beating this season. While the play-calling isn’t responsible, it’s not assisting the cause, either. The Chiefs dropped back to pass far too many times — particularly since, uh, it wasn’t working. They seem immune to playing with a lead, especially after halftime, but their immunity to running the ball doesn’t help.

Neither does the offensive line.

In yet another week, the rotation continues at left tackle. After D.J. Humphries injured his hamstring last week, the Chiefs kicked Joe Thuney from left guard to left tackle, a more significant change in practicality than name.

Thuney is the fourth left tackle to start a game for the Chiefs this season. It’s an astounding number.

2. Finally, some Chiefs takeaways

It’s the best Chiefs defensive performance in weeks, perhaps months, perhaps even the season.

But even if it wasn’t, we’d have to mention this.

The Chiefs finally forced some turnovers.

Six of them.

Browns quarterback Jameis Winston is the most aggressive quarterback in the league — he leads the NFL in turnover-worthy play percentage at 4.9%, per PFF — and the Chiefs actually capitalized on that aggression. Winston threw three interceptions before his backup threw another.

Winston even did the impossible. He threw a football to Trent McDuffie.

About time, right? McDuffie, all All-Pro last year, finally has the first interception in his third career season.

The Chiefs also forced two fumbles, one on a punt return and one a well-timed punch from Leo Chenal.

3. Defensive dominance

It wasn’t only the takeaways.

The defense dominated up front and set the tone for the game with a first-half shutout in which they held the Browns to 2.8 yards per play. They sacked Winston five times.

Look, Chris Jones has done his job this season — he leads interior defensive linemen with 61 quarterback pressures, despite being doubled on 69% of his snaps this season.

But that last part is the key. If you double Jones, you leave one-on-one matchups elsewhere. The Chiefs haven’t take advantage of those matchups on the edge.

They did Sunday.

George Karlaftis had two sacks, both the result of continuous effort with Winston unable to find an open receiver. And Charles Omenihu knocked the ball out of Winston’s hands while bending around the edge on a third-down snap.

4. A third quarter touchdown

The Chiefs scored a third-quarter touchdown for just the second time in the past 11 weeks. Xavier Worthy found the end zone on a toss from Patrick Mahomes that technically counted as a 21-yard rush.

But don’t let it fool you — the third-quarter woes march on.

The Chiefs possessed the ball five times in the third quarter, and their last four totaled 10 yards. They had 44 yards on 19 plays in all, and 21 of those came on the Worthy play.

Although we can’t blame it all on play-calling, the Chiefs inexplicably insisted on becoming pass-heavy, despite holding at least a two-possession lead the entire quarter. That sentence is nearly copied and pasted from a week earlier.

The off-tackle runs were the Chiefs’ best play-calls of the day. It was confounding to see them move away from them.

5. The first-half ending

A stress-free first half for 29 minutes.

A debacle to end it.

The Chiefs moved the ball to the 11-yard line in the final half-minute but failed to convert a third-and-short, and then Andy Reid sent the Harrison Butker out for a 29-yard field goal. Butker missed it.

It was a bad result, but the Chiefs utilized the right process.

They gave the ball to Kareem Hunt on third-and-1 — and just because he failed to get the first down doesn’t mean it’s the wrong play. In fact, it’s precisely the right call. On third or fourth down with 1 or 2 yards to go, Hunt had converted 12 of 13 rushes into first downs. (He converted one later in the game too.)

While I’m always in favor of aggressive fourth-down calls — and Patrick Mahomes certainly made it known he preferred to go for it — but at the end of the half, you are subtracted the advantage of pinning the other team deep in its own territory if you fail to convert. And there’s a huge statistical advantage in turning it into a three-possession game.

The Chiefs didn’t. They led 14-0 at halftime.

Three weeks after running back Isiah Pacheco returned from a leg injury, the Chiefs are still figuring out how to best divvy up playing time in their backfield.

Here’s a thought: Do it by situation.