After seeing the Kansas City Chiefs (11-1) escape defeat yet again, it is clear that the two-time reigning champions have made some sort of deal with the football gods this season. Unlike in previous years when KC mounted a terrific game-winning drive, the squad seems to be more reliant on luck than ever before. Case in point, Patrick Mahomes and company earned a 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in large part because of a mind-boggling blunder.
A miscommunication at the line of scrimmage gave way to a fumble recovery and penalty in the last 15 seconds of the game, both of which benefited the Chiefs. The inexplicable ending hearkens back to their heroic blocked field goal versus the Denver Broncos in Week 10. How long can this type of sorcery shield them from true danger? Greatness tends to beget fortune in the NFL, at least as far as Kansas City is concerned.
This franchise's unlikely run now has a historic seal of approval to go with it. “The Chiefs clinch a playoff spot with five weeks to go in the regular season, tying the earliest any team has clinched since the 1970 merger,” NFL Network's Tom Pelissero posted on X.
Their on-field performance does not necessarily equate with the unparalleled dominance that such a statistic implies, but when people look back on this era of KC football decades from now, they will probably not spend too much time debating about the bumpy path the squad took to reach the pinnacle. Because in the end, they will only count how many scratches are on the car.
Will the Chiefs keep wiggling their way out of trouble?
The Chiefs presently sport just one blemish, courtesy of a Buffalo Bills team that has yet to conquer them in the playoffs. There are offensive limitations that cannot be ignored, but they still have more than a month to elevate their level of play. Did we mention they are 11-1?
The legendary Patrick Mahomes is starting to reclaim his MVP form, throwing for 306 yards and one touchdown in Friday's victory. DeAndre Hopkins made a bad drop that could have been damaging but still amassed a team-high 90 receiving yards. Travis Kelce is also playing more consistently (surpassed 60 yards in five of last six games). If the offensive line can figure out how to keep its QB on his feet (sacked 20 times in last five weeks), then the rest of the league could find itself watching the same movie once again in February.
That is a big “if,” though, and not the only one the Chiefs have to address moving forward. Mahomes, Andy Reid and the rest of this playoff-bound group will try to produce a cleaner divisional effort when it welcomes in the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday night.
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