The Kansas City Chiefs have made a habit of winning in unexpected ways.
The way they beat the Raiders on Friday still had Patrick Mahomes and his teammates surprised.
Mahomes, a two-time MVP, was watching from the sideline as the Las Vegas Raiders got close to scoring a winning field goal with just 15 seconds left. But they made a mistake when they botched the snap on the final play. This gave the Chiefs a chance to win the game 19-17, also securing their 10th straight playoff spot, which is 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) started their drive from their own 8-yard line with just under two minutes left. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell quickly moved the ball past midfield. He then spiked the ball at the Kansas City 32 to stop the clock.
Instead of going for a field goal — as kicker Daniel Carlson had missed three kicks from over 50 yards — the Raiders decided to run a play and try to get a few more yards before time ran out.
But with the loud noise from the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium, rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball when O’Connell wasn’t ready, and it hit the quarterback’s shoulder. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton jumped on the ball, and the recovery stood after a flag revealed an illegal shift by the Raiders.
“I actually didn’t watch,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said about the final play. “That last play there was a lot going on, from the officiating to the flags to the ball being snapped.”
Mahomes finished the game with 306 yards passing and a touchdown. Matt Wright, the fill-in kicker, made four field goals for the Chiefs, who are the two-time defending Super Bowl champions and won their NFL record-extending 14th consecutive one-possession game.
Like many of their games, including last week’s last-second win over Carolina, the Chiefs didn’t seem to be in a celebrating mood.
“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 when O’Connell moved them past midfield. But the Chiefs forced three incomplete passes — including two from George Karlaftis and Justin Reid — to bring up fourth down.
Carlson came onto the field, but his 58-yard field goal try with 2:21 left never had a chance to go through the uprights.
O’Connell finished the game with 340 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Raiders, who have now lost eight of their last nine games to the Chiefs. Brock Bowers had 10 catches for 140 yards and one touchdown.
“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 a 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 Raiders were able to stay close thanks to some issues that have hurt the Chiefs all season. The Chiefs’ offensive tackles struggled to give Mahomes enough time to throw, their secondary had breakdowns, and they committed too many penalties — including three on one offensive possession.
Mahomes was under heavy pressure when he threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Justin Watson late in the first half. The pass gave the Chiefs a 10-3 lead and sent Mahomes past Len Dawson with his franchise-record 328th touchdown pass.
O’Connell, who had to play after Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone last weekend, started slow after missing a month with a broken thumb. But as the Chiefs kept kicking field goals, O’Connell started to find his rhythm, throwing two touchdown passes to give the Raiders the lead.
The first touchdown was to Bowers, one of the most productive rookie players in NFL history, with 1:40 left in the third quarter. Then, after the Chiefs went three-and-out, O’Connell connected with Tre Tucker for a 58-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs responded with Wright’s fourth field goal, giving them a 19-17 lead with about 10 minutes left.
A lot happened after that before the final score was decided.
“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.”
