The Kansas City Chiefs would seem to have already used five years of good luck this season, but the football gods just keep delivering more.
The Chiefs didn’t wait until the last play to get their good fortune this time, but a botched snap by the Los Angeles Raiders on Friday and a recovery by the Chiefs with 11 seconds left qualifies as another stunning dose.
The Raiders were at the Kansas City 32-yard line and in position to attempt a go-ahead field goal when the Chiefs again received late-game magic. That 19-17 escape marked Kansas City’s ninth victory by single digits this season—a new NFL record.
Five of Kansas City’s victories have been determined on the final play of the game: two made field goals, one rushing touchdown in overtime, one blocked field goal and one opponent touchdown overturned.
Now they get this latest win where Raiders center Jackson Powers-Johnson unexpectedly snapped the ball. It caromed off the upper right arm of quarterback Aidan O’Connell, and the Chiefs’ Nick Bolton recovered it to leave Las Vegas stunned and make Kansas City (10-1) the first team to clinch a playoff spot.
Kansas City blew a 16-3 lead against the lowly Raiders (2-10), who scored two touchdowns to move ahead before the Chiefs got a go-ahead field goal from Matthew Wright.
Five days earlier, the Chiefs blew a 14-point lead against the horrid Carolina Panthers before needing a field goal as time expired to win.
So we’re seeing that Kansas City isn’t a formidable team. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes said the Chiefs need to get better. I think we all agree with him.
Not to be forgotten is that Kansas City wobbled a lot last season. After their Week 10 bye, the Chiefs lost four of their next six games to fall to 9-6, and people were wondering what was wrong.
Kansas City finished 11-6 and beat the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round when the temperature was minus-4 (feels like minus-27) at kickoff. Then it won road games against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens before notching an overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
So after ‘what’s wrong with the Chiefs?’ was the big late December question, these guys rallied to win the whole darn thing.
That makes it difficult to assess the current Chiefs. They are playing a lot of close games and also playing down to the competition.
But only the powerful Buffalo Bills have beaten them.
As for the Raiders (2-10), they lost their eighth straight game since beating the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 29.
Las Vegas has lost five games by double digits during the stretch, and the one place where Friday’s loss helps is that it improves the chances of gaining the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Aidan O’Connell was back after breaking his right (throwing) thumb in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. He fared well by throwing for two touchdowns and a career-high 340 yards.
With Gardner Minshew (collarbone) done for the season, the Raiders need to study O’Connell the rest of the campaign so they can make this decision: Is he our quarterback of the future, or do we need to find one?
There are certainly things to like about O’Connell. When the Raiders were down 13 points, this game could have gotten away fast. But O’Connell picked up his play and made some big-time throws.
Rookie tight end Brock Bowers caught 10 passes for 140 yards and he is a definite future star.
But looking at the total picture, this is a miserable season for Las Vegas. The Raiders even lost at home by 14 points to the Panthers.
You have to wonder if coach Antonio Pierce will keep his job. He did a good job last season by going 5-4 after taking over, but there isn’t much good to dig up this time around.
Perhaps he deserves a second full season out of fairness, but you know what can happen when keeping a coach out of charity? Another double-digit loss season.
On Friday, that was a game the Raiders were in position to win. Then snap—it wasn’t.
