Shane Buechele throws two touchdown passes in preseason loss to Saints
Craig McMullen
In the second half with the Chiefs down 17-7, the Chiefs put in quarterback Shane Buechele.
“Coming out of the second half, the message was ‘energy’,” Buechele said. “We needed to have better energy on the sideline and on the field and we were able to put it together a couple drives. It’s always fun to have those guys pumped up and have energy on the sidelines.”
Rookie cornerback Kahlef Hailassie picked off Saints quarterback Jake Haener at the 46-yard line with 8:12 left in the third quarter to start the Chiefs second drive of the half.
Quarterback Shane Buechele began the drive with two passes to Cornell Powell to get the Chiefs down to the 25-yard line.
The third play of the drive, Buechele found Justyn Ross in the end zone for a touchdown who was playing in his first game with the Chiefs after spending the 2022 season on the injured reserved list.
“Just seeing the smile on his face after he caught that ball was the best part,” Buechele said. “He did a great job of running the route and just executing the play.”
The next drive for Buechele and the Chiefs came at the end of the third quarter. With three seconds left in the quarter Buechele scrambled to get away from defenders and threw and 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keokoa Crawford.
The pass had quarterback Patrick Mahomes thrilled on the sidelines as well as Chiefs fans on social media going crazy.
Buechele finished the afternoon with 11 completions, 155 yard, and two touchdowns. Ross had two catches for 29 yard and a touchdown.
The Chiefs next preseason game will be against the Arizona Cardinals Saturday Aug. 19, in the stadium where they won Super Bowl 57.
