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The Kansas City Chiefs clinched their ninth straight AFC West Division title with Sunday night’s 19-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. True to form for the Chiefs in 2024, the game came down to a dramatic ending.
With one second left and the Chiefs trailing 17-16, newly-signed kicker Matthew Wright lined up for a 31-yard field goal. The snap was clean, the protection was good, and Wright’s kick had plenty of distance — but the ball veered toward the left crossbar, producing the dreaded “doink.”
For a moment, it seemed Kansas City’s good fortune had finally run out. But in typical Kansas City fashion, the ball still bounced through the uprights for the game-winner, marking their 15th consecutive win in one-possession games.
“That’s not an easy thing,” head coach Andy Reid said of another division title. “Every year is a little bit different on how we’ve gotten there. I’m proud of our guys. We’re just hanging in there. We have so many tight games, more so than some of these other years, and so the guys keep hanging in there and feeling like good things are going to happen and keep battling.”
The overall game itself was a grueling battle for Kansas City, marked by struggles on both sides of the ball. The third quarter was especially challenging, as the offense failed to score while the defense surrendered two touchdowns, allowing the Chargers to take the lead.
However, the Chargers gave the Chiefs a golden opportunity late in the fourth quarter with a poorly executed kickoff that gave Kansas City starting field position at their 40-yard line. From there, quarterback Patrick Mahomes worked his magic.
The signature play of the drive came on third-and-7 at the Chargers’ 20-yard line. A defensive stop here would have allowed Los Angeles to win the game with a field goal of their own. Instead, Mahomes, scrambling out of a bootleg, evaded a defender and found tight end Travis Kelce for the first down. With Los Angeles out of timeouts, the Chiefs were able to drain the clock and set up Wright’s heroic kick.
Despite the risks of passing the ball in that situation, Reid trusted Mahomes to make something happen and put them in a position to win the game.
“I have trust in Pat (Mahomes) making those kind of plays,” Reid said. “He kind of said that before the play, he goes, ‘I’ll make something happen.’”
Mahomes delivered, as that nine-yard pass to Kelce finished his night, completing 24-of-37 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. Recalling the crucial play, Mahomes credited Kelce’s natural instinct to get himself open, especially when they needed him the most.
“They did a good job of covering it,” Mahomes said. “(Travis Kelce) just played ball and got himself open. I wanted to get on the edge where I could either fall down and let the clock keep running or try to make a play with the easy type of throw. We were able to find a way to get that throw to Trav there and get the first down.”
Now sitting at 12-1, the Chiefs turn their attention to securing the AFC’s top seed and the coveted first-round playoff bye. With the Buffalo Bills losing to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Kansas City now holds a two-game cushion in the race for first place.
“It’s our first goal every single year—to win the AFC West,” Mahomes emphasized. “This is a great division with a lot of rivalries where everybody’s playing each other tough. I mean, three teams are going to probably make the playoffs, so it speaks to the division that we play in. To be able to win this division and gain another game in the playoff picture, it was an important game for us against a really good football team. We found a way to get a win, but now we got to keep building if we want to get to our ultimate goal.”
Reid echoed those sentiments, acknowledging the milestone while emphasizing the work to be done.
“We’ve still got games left,” Reid said. “When I say this, we’re not just putting the tent up right here and calling it a day. We’ve got to keep playing and playing aggressively. Like I said, we’re playing some real good football teams that are trying to get themselves into the playoffs. So they’re going to be hungry and attacking.
“It’s a great achievement, but there’s more left.”
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