To be the man, you have got to beat the man. The two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will always be the favorite and win more than half of their close games as long as coach Andy Reid is at the helm and Patrick Mahomes is under center. It is not just good luck or happenstance when you have all-time greats in those valuable positions.
But this Chiefs streak in one-score games is still shocking and too close for comfort for Chiefs fans. This time, they doinked in a field goal for the win by place kicker Matthew Wright, who is their third kicker of the season.
“I trusted Matthew, so I was good with where we were,” Reid said. “Percentages are pretty high. I know we won a game in that same situation on the opposite end, so I get it, but he’s a solid gamer, so I wasn’t too worried about it.”
The Chiefs extended their NFL record by winning their 15th consecutive one-score game. The Los Angeles Chargers took a one-point lead with less than five minutes remaining on Sunday night, but you never felt that the Chiefs were in danger and a win seemed fitting and inevitable. Mahomes has come through in those circumstances so often we take it for granted, and he did it again with a methodical drive that ended with a game-winning, 31-yard field goal by Wright on the final play of the game. Wright did not hit it perfectly, but it bounced off the left upright and deflected in. The Chiefs won by two, 19-17, and fans of the 31 other teams around the NFL wondered again how they keep snatching victory from the jaws of defeat like that every week.
Embed from Getty ImagesWright said he was not thinking about the game situation, instead focusing on what he had to do if it came down to his right leg. As the ball headed toward the upright and started drifting left, Wright said his thought was not good.
“It’s not a good one,” he said. “I want it to just go right down the middle, obviously.”
With the win, the Chiefs clinched their ninth straight AFC West title. They also have a two-game lead over Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, who lost to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, 44-42 and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who beat the Cleveland Brown, 27-14, for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
The Chargers, who were shorthanded, battled hard and had an opportunity to win. But, like everyone else who thought they had Mahomes and the Chiefs on the ropes, they just ended up with a sickening feeling in their stomachs and a heartbreaking loss in the end.
The Chargers had an awful first half on offense and did not put any point on the board before halftime. They were down two key players to injury, running back J.K. Dobbins who is on IR and receiver Ladd McConkey, and it was obvious. The Chargers also lost quarterback Justin Herbert for one play when he landed hard on a hit, and also tight end Will Dissly on the final play of the half with a shoulder injury.
The Chargers were lacking any playmakers around Herbert. But the script was flipped to start the second half, the offense came alive. Gus Edwards scored on a 3-yard touchdown and despite being outplayed through the first half, the Chargers trailed by only six, 13-7, early in the third quarter.
“We just had to settle in,” said Herbert, who was 21 of 30 for 213 yards and a touchdown. “We didn’t make enough plays in the first half and we didn’t execute the way we wanted to. Pass game, run game, we weren’t moving the ball well. That’s on us and I praise the guys for staying in there, staying patient and making plays in the second half.”
The Chargers got a much-needed stop, pressuring Mahomes on a third-and-1 into throwing an incompletion, then a quick drive that ended with Herbert connecting with Quentin Johnston for a touchdown. Suddenly the Chargers led 14-13 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
As with just about every other Chiefs game this season, Kansas City was not going to slaughter their opponent.
The Chiefs regained the lead in the fourth quarter on a field goal, but had a chance to get into the end zone. On third-and-16 Mahomes found his new weapon DeAndre Hopkins deep downfield, but Chargers defensive back Cam Hart arrived with the ball and put a bruising hit on Hopkins to jar the ball loose and incomplete. That came right after guard Trey Smith took a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, which changed the situation from third-and-1 to third-and-16.
That allowed the Chargers to come downfield and regain the lead. They got into Chiefs territory and kicked a field goal with 4:35 to go. Mahomes has overcome plenty of obstacles and deficits in far less time than that to work with.
The Chiefs appeared to be in some trouble but Mahomes did what he always does, making a great play on third down, contorting his body to get a pass downfield to speedster Xavier Worthy for a first down. In the majority of the Chiefs’ nail-biting wins, there is usually at least one play like that from Mahomes that not many other quarterbacks can make.
“I went through my reads,” Mahomes said. “As I was ready to run, I just saw 87 just sitting right there in the middle of the field, open. So, I fired it to him.”
The rest of the game played out as many others have before in the Chiefs’ streak. They patiently picked up some more first downs to milk the clock. Mahomes made a defender miss and hit Travis Kelce on a big third down after the two-minute warning, and because the Chargers had burned through all their timeouts, the Chiefs could run out most of the rest of the clock and set up a field goal on the final play. Wright almost missed it but as usual, the Chiefs got the bounce they needed.
Mahomes says he is not surprised that Kelce stepped up in the clutch, coincidently on the last night of his girl friends’ tour.
“He means the world to me,” he said. “Without getting like emotional, he’s a guy that has really kind of made me who I am in my career. (He’s a) true leader on the football field. He’s someone that I can just go to at any moment, and he’s going to make a big play happen, and as he’s done throughout his career.”
The Chiefs were not great over the 60 minutes, which has been a theme of their season. But when the Chiefs needed one drive to win it, they marched downfield as usual and got the game-winning points. It should not be possible to win 15 straight one-score games.
The Chargers host Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
The Chiefs are on the road at Cleveland taking on Miles Garrett and the Browns next Sunday.
