The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders, 19-17, on Friday afternoon in yet another thriller that came down to the final moments.
Trailing by two points with less than two minutes left in the game, the Raiders took over at their own 8-yard line and quickly drove into Chiefs' territory, marching all the way to the Kansas City 32-yard line.
Las Vegas was knocking on the door of field goal range as time continued to tick away, but with just 15 seconds remaining in the contest, quarterback Aidan O'Connell mishandled the snap and lost the ball. Chiefs' linebacker Nick Bolton pounced on the fumble, and just like that, Kansas City had its sixth victory of the year that came down to the final couple of snaps.
"The win was a positive, and these things are hard to get in this league – especially against this crew," said Head Coach Andy Reid. "They do a nice job against us – it seems like every time we play them, it comes right down to the end."
The victory marked a 14th straight one-score victory for Kansas City, which is the longest winning streak of its kind in NFL history. It also locked up a playoff berth for the 10th straight year as the Chiefs became the first team to clinch a postseason spot in the month of November since 2019.
"That's your first goal – it's to get into the playoffs and give yourself a chance to go for that Super Bowl," said quarterback Patrick Mahomes. "We know we have a long way to go. We have to continue to work to get better and to be a better football team going into the playoffs."
Indeed, a series of miscues on both sides of the ball proved to be the difference between a comfortable victory and what turned out to be another nail-biter. In fact, at one point, Kansas City had an 11-point lead and appeared to be in good shape late in the third quarter.
Kansas City built that advantage behind three field goals by kicker Matthew Wright and a 6-yard touchdown strike between Mahomes and wide receiver Justin Watson prior to halftime. It marked the 238th passing touchdown of Mahomes' brilliant career, moving him past the legendary Len Dawson for the most passing scores in franchise history.
The touchdown was the Chiefs' lone trip to the end zone across five red zone drives, however, and the Raiders refused to go away. Las Vegas rattled off 14 unanswered points on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter, pushing the Raiders in front for the first time all day.
Kansas City then quickly responded with a 32-yard field goal on its ensuing possession to reclaim the lead, but Las Vegas continued to make things interesting over the game's final two minutes.
The Raiders missed a 58-yard field goal on their penultimate drive that would have taken the lead had it gone through the uprights, and following a Chiefs' punt on the following possession, Las Vegas had one final opportunity to take the lead with one minute and 56 seconds remaining in regulation.
Las Vegas quickly marched into realistic field goal range, but the snap slipped through O'Connell's grasp before the Raiders could set up for another potential game-winning field goal attempt, and as they have so many times this season, the Chiefs escaped with another thrilling win.
"I didn't see it, but obviously, [it was] a big stop and a big moment," Mahomes said. "They got us the win there, but we have to execute better in the fourth quarter so it doesn't come down to that."
In terms of injuries, Nick Bolton was the only player Coach Reid mentioned following the game, although Bolton – who recovered the fumble in the game's final minutes – returned to the field soon after suffering his injury.
The Chiefs will now enjoy an extended break before taking on the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead next Sunday.
