Thanks to this another Hollywood victory, the Chiefs (11-1) secured their 10th consecutive appearance in the playoffs. It is the second longest such streak in NFL history.
“It was a big defensive play, at an important moment, that gave us the victory,” admitted Patrick Mahomes.
The Raiders (2-10) had the ball at their eight-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but Aidan O’Connell quickly moved his team to the Chiefs’ 32-yard line.
Rather than attempt a potentially winning field goal, the Raiders tried to advance further down the field, on a third down. Andre James handed the ball to O’Connell, when the latter was not expecting it, and Chiefs defensive player Nick Bolton immediately jumped on the ball.
“I actually didn’t even watch,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said of the decisive play. A lot happened on that last play, from the officiating to the flags to getting the ball.”
It was a 14th straight victory for the Chiefs when the game was decided by just one possession.
“We set very high standards for ourselves. “We don’t feel like we’re playing our best football,” Mahomes said. We have to find a way to prepare ourselves to play optimally (as a complete team). It’s great that we’re finding ways to win. This is what we are looking for. But our goal is to make it to the Super Bowl.”
The Raiders had another chance to score earlier in the fourth quarter, but the Chiefs forced O’Connell to throw three incomplete passes. Kicker Daniel Carlson attempted a 58-yard field goal, but completely missed.
Mahomes finished the game with 26 of 46 completions for 306 yards and a touchdown, to Justin Watson.
Kicker Matt Wright scored the Chiefs’ other 12 points with four field goals.
O’Connell completed 23 of 35 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
Brock Bowers, who scored one of the Raiders’ two touchdowns, had 140 yards on 10 receptions. Tre Tucker was the other receiver who reached the end zone.
Carlson missed three of his four field goal attempts.
“These guys fought until the end, until the clock hit zero,” Pierce said. They believed we were going to win and fought until the end. Everyone helped put us in this position, but Aiden did a tremendous job. He stayed in the pocket, made big passes for us, moved the ball down the field.
“I’m proud of my team, of our team. I am proud of the fight. We failed again against the world champions, but only narrowly. And that’s twice in a row.”
