Double-digit deficits are barely a speed bump for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs

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Falling behind by a double-digit deficit is typically a death knell for most NFL teams.

For Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, that's the situation that makes them thrive.

Mahomes and the Chiefs rallied from 14-3 down to beat the Denver Broncos 16-14 on Sunday to improve to 9-0 with their second comeback from at least 10 points down this season after also doing it in Week 4 against the Chargers.

Kansas City improved to 19-14 with Mahomes at quarterback after falling behind by double digits in the regular season or playoffs for a staggering .576 win percentage in those typically dire situations, compared with the .139 mark in NFL history and the .160 mark since Mahomes entered the NFL in 2017.

No quarterback other than Mahomes who has faced at least 20 double-digit deficits has won even 40% of those games, with Tom Brady (.378) and Joe Montana at (.370) coming next on the list.

The Chiefs are more likely to win a game after falling behind by at least 10 points with Mahomes at quarterback than teams are in all games with several notable quarterbacks, including Hall of Famers Dan Fouts (.503), Joe Namath (.500) and Warren Moon (.493); former MVP Matt Ryan (.527) and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning (.508).

Mahomes needed some help with a blocked field goal to seal Kansas City's 15th straight win in the regular season and playoffs, which is the longest streak in the NFL since Green Bay won 19 in a row in 2010-11.

Kansas City is the fifth defending Super Bowl champion to start the following season 9-0 or better. With a win this week at Buffalo, the Chiefs' 10-0 start will trail only the 2011 Packers (13-0) and the 1998 Broncos (13-0) for the most consecutive wins to begin a season for a defending champion.

The New York Jets and Giants both played — and lost — on Sunday, which shouldn't come as a big surprise based on how the Big Apple's teams have fared recently.

That marked the fourth time in five weeks that the two teams that are the worst in the NFL over the last eight seasons both lost. The Jets lead the NFL with 86 losses since the start of the 2017 — one more than their MetLife Stadium co-tenants, the Giants, have in that span.

There have been 116 weeks since the start of the 2017 season when the Jets and Giants both played — excluding two head-to-head matchups — with both teams losing in 59 of those weeks compared with just 12 weeks where they went 2-0.

There are plenty of reasons for the lack of success for both teams, but the lack of development for the Giants' 2019 first-round draft pick, quarterback Daniel Jones, and the lack of production from Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers are high on the list.

The 40-year-old Rodgers looks little like the QB who won back-to-back MVPs in Green Bay in 2020-21. After missing almost all of his first season in New York with a torn Achilles tendon, Rodgers has been unable to elevate the Jets' offense this season.

New York has been held without an offensive touchdown twice in Rodgers' last seven starts — matching the total he had in 239 regular-season and playoff starts in Green Bay when he played at least a half.

Rodgers has gone 33 straight starts in the regular season and playoffs without throwing for at least 300 yards in any game — tied for the third-longest streak in the last 20 years, trailing David Garrard's 39 straight in 2005-08 and Alex Smith's 35 from 2005-09.

Jones has been even worse, failing to throw a single TD pass in six of his 10 games this season. He joined Mike Glennon (2021) as the only Giants QBs in the last 20 seasons to have multiple games with at least two interceptions, no touchdown passes and fewer than 200 yards passing.

Ja'Marr Chase put up a season of production for some players in just two games against the Baltimore Ravens.

Chase followed up his 10 catches for 193 yards and two TDs in the first meeting between Cincinnati and Baltimore with 11 catches for 264 yards and three scores in a 35-34 loss on Thursday night.

Chase's 457 yards receiving are the most for a player in one season against a single opponent, topping Art Powell's 428 for the Raiders against Houston in 1963. Chase is the first player in NFL history with two career games with at least 250 yards receiving and two TDs, having also done it against Kansas City in Week 17 of the 2021 season.

Despite Chase's historic production, the Bengals lost both games because they couldn't stop Lamar Jackson, who had eight TD passes in the two games.

In all, the teams combined for 148 points, 1,541 yards passing and 17 TD passes in the two meetings. That's tied for the most TD passes thrown in a season series between two teams with Washington and the New York Giants in 1962, and the third most yards passing, trailing San Francisco-Atlanta in 1990 (1,600) and Detroit-Green Bay in 2011 (1,583).

Jim Harbaugh's history of being a turnaround artist as a coach has carried over to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers already surpassed last season's win total after beating Tennessee 27-17 on Sunday to improve to 6-3 and give Harbaugh his 50th career regular-season win.

Harbaugh reached the mark in his 73rd game as a head coach in the NFL. Only six coaches since the merger got there faster, according to Sportradar, including his older brother, John, who got his 50th win in his 72nd game as coach in Baltimore. The fastest coach to 50 wins in the Super Bowl era was George Seifert, who took over the Super Bowl champion 49ers in 1989 and won 50 of his first 62 games.

Harbaugh led San Francisco to a seven-game improvement in his first season there in 2011 and had similar success in college. Stanford improved by three wins in his first season and Michigan made a five-win jump in his first year there.

The Chargers have done it largely behind a defense that became the ninth team in the Super Bowl era to allow 20 points or fewer in each of the first nine games of a season. They are just the fourth team to do that since 1980, joining the 2013 Chiefs, the 1999 Jaguars and the 1990 Super Bowl champion Giants.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) catches a touchdown pass over Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) and safety Ar'Darius Washington (29) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Baltimore. The Ravens won 35-34. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones watches during the second half of an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Munich, Germany. (AP Photo/Lennart Preiss)

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) lies on the turf during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes pauses following an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 16-14. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws over Denver Broncos inside linebacker Cody Barton (55) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein are believed to be suffering from a lack of food, water and other basic necessities after police closed off the entrances used to transport their supplies underground.

It is part of the police’s Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole, operation, which includes cutting off miners’ supplies to force them to return to the surface and be arrested.

North West police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone said information received from those who recently helped bring three miners to the surface indicated that as many as 4,000 miners may be underground. Police have not provided an official estimate.

In the past few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.

Police continue on Thursday to guard areas around the mine to catch all those appearing from underground.

Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners because they are involved in a criminal act.

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. We didn’t send them there," Ntshavheni said.

Illegal mining remains common in South Africa's old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.

The illegal miners are often from neighboring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.

Their presence in closed mines have also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.

Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.

Police patrol at a mine shaft where an estimated 4000 illegal miners are trapped in a disused mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov.13, 2024. (AP Photo)

Relatives of miners and community members wait at a mine shaft where an estimated 4000 illegal miners are trapped in a disused mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov.13, 2024. (AP Photo)

An aerial view of a mine shaft where an estimated 4000 illegal miners are trapped in a disused mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov.13, 2024. (AP Photo)