The Chiefs maintained their NFL-best 11-1 record with another miraculous late-game escape Friday afternoon, pouncing on a Raiders fumble inside the final 15 seconds with Las Vegas in range to try a game-winning field goal.
It's been three last-second victories over middling opposition and a loss to Buffalo in the last four games for Kansas City, not quite the dominant standard fans have come to expect for the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, but defensive tackle Chris Jones is unworried about his team's recent narrow victories.
"When you look at the playoffs, most games are close, down-to-the-wire type of games, so there's a lot we can build from this as a team overall," Jones said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. "We're just going to keep on winning, keep on winning. You can learn a lot from winning. It is better to win than have a pretty loss. We'll take an ugly win, build from it and continue to get better."
After winning its first eight games in 2024, Kansas City's perfect start looked set to come to an end during a Week 10 matchup against Denver, with Bo Nix driving his Broncos to the red zone down just two in the closing seconds to set up a game-winning 35-yard field goal. However, the Chiefs' special teams stepped up with a massive play, bursting through the Broncos protection and securing a decisive field goal block to remain unbeaten.
The Chiefs would fall for the first time in 2024 the following week as Josh Allen's lengthy touchdown run in the final two minutes iced a 30-21 victory for Buffalo. And while a road loss against a fellow AFC contender hardly qualifies as a bad loss, Kansas City found themselves at risk of a unsightly setback in Week 11, surrendering a 14-point lead as 3-8 Carolina tied the game at 27 with two minutes remaining. Ultimately, quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a familiarly clutch final drive and kicker Spencer Shrader nailed a 31-yard field goal to spare the Chiefs' blushes.
Finally, on Friday afternoon another AFC West rival marched into Chiefs territory with a two-point deficit, with Las Vegas trying to complete one more play from the 29-yard line before setting up a game winning field goal. However, the snap came while quarterback Aidan O'Connell wasn't looking and ultimately resulted in a fumble.
Las Vegas also contends that Kansas City's victory was also dependent on a mistake from the officials as flags flew during the fumble. One official from the Raiders sideline appeared to indicate a false start penalty, which would have ruled the play dead before the snap, but the referees ultimately agreed on an illegal shift penalty that the Chiefs were able to decline. Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce submitted the play to the NFL for review, arguing that a whistle could be overheard from his sideline.
