The Kansas City Chiefs have made a habit of winning games in the most improbable of ways.
The way they beat the Raiders on Friday still had Patrick Mahomes and co shaking their heads in disbelief.
The two-time MVP watched from the sideline as Las Vegas drove within range of a winning field goal with 15 seconds left, only to botch the snap on its final offensive play, allowing the Chiefs to escape with a 19-17 victory that also secured their 10th consecutive playoff berth – the second-longest streak in NFL history.
“Obviously a big stop in a big moment that got us the win,” Mahomes said.
The Raiders (2-10) had taken over at their own eight-yard line with just under two minutes to go, and quarterback Aidan O’Connell quickly moved them across midfield, eventually spiking the ball at the Kansas City 32 to stop the clock.
Rather than try for the winning field goal – Daniel Carlson had missed three from 50-plus – the Raiders lined up to run a play, hoping to gain a few yards with a throw to the sideline before time expired. But amid the roar of Arrowhead Stadium, center Andre James snapped the ball when O’Connell wasn’t expecting it, and it bounced off the QB’s shoulder. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton pounced on it, and the recovery stood when a flag on the play turned out to be an illegal shift by the Raiders.
“I actually didn’t watch,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said of the fateful play. “That last play there was a lot going on, from the officiating to the flags to the ball being snapped.”
Mahomes finished with 306 yards passing and a touchdown, and fill-in kicker Matt Wright made four field goals for the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (11-1), who won their NFL record-extending 14th consecutive one-possession game.
Like many of them, including last week’s last-second win over Carolina, the Chiefs seemed to be in no mood to celebrate.
“I mean, we just hold ourselves to such a high standard. We don’t feel like we’re playing our best football,” Mahomes said. “We have to find a way to build up to play great (as) a full, entire team. It’s awesome that we’re finding ways to get wins. That’s what you’re going for. But our goal is to get to the Super Bowl.”
The Raiders had a chance to take the lead earlier in the fourth quarter, too, when O’Connell drove them across midfield. But the Chiefs forced three incompletions – George Karlaftis and Justin Reid batted down two — to bring up fourth down.
Carlson headed onto the field, but his 58-yard try with 2:21 remaining never got near the uprights.
O’Connell finished with 340 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Raiders, who have lost eight of nine to their bitter AFC West rivals. Brock Bowers had 10 catches for 140 yards and one of the scores.
“These guys battled until the very end, until the clock hit zero,” Pierce said. “They believed we were going to win and fought their (butts) off to the very end. All phases contributed to help us get in that position, but Aiden did hell of a job. He stayed in the pocket, made big-time throws for us, pushed the ball down the field. The numbers say what they’re going to say. I’m proud of my team, our team. I’m proud of the fight. We came up short yet again against the world champs. Twice now.”
The hapless Raiders were able to hang around thanks to the same problems that have plagued the Chiefs much of the season: Their offensive tackles were unable to give Mahomes time to throw, their secondary kept breaking down and they committed too many penalties – three on one offensive possession alone.
In fact, Mahomes was under extreme duress when he found Justin Watson from six yards out late in the first half. The pass not only gave the Chiefs a 10-3 lead but sent the two-time MVP past Len Dawson with his franchise-record 328th TD throw.
O’Connell, thrust back onto the field when Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone last weekend, got off to a slow start after missing a month with a broken thumb. But as the Chiefs continued to kick field goals, O’Connell found his rhythm, eventually slinging a pair of touchdown passes to give Las Vegas the lead.
The first was to Bowers, already one of the most productive rookies in NFL history, with 1:40 left in the third quarter. Then, after the Chiefs went three-and-out, O’Connell hit Tre Tucker with 58-yard strike on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs answered with Wright’s fourth field goal to take a 19-17 lead with about 10 minutes to go.
A whole lot was still to transpire before that was the final score.
“The win was a positive here. These things are hard to get, especially against this crew,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “They do a nice job against us it seems every time we play them. It comes right down to the end.”
