KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Isaiah Likely’s toe was out of bounds on a possible game-deciding touchdown, so the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens Sept. 5 in the NFL's opening game.
Rashee Rice was interfered with on a fourth-and-forever snap in the closing minute a week later, so down went Cincinnati.
Nick Bolton snuffed out Atlanta’s hopes with a clutch fourth-down tackle for loss in Week 3.
The two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs needed overtime six weeks later to outlast Tampa Bay before a walk-off blocked field goal six days later against Denver.
Now, Kansas City has won on field goals as time expired — one by Spencer Shrader in Carolina and another by Matthew Wright, who banked home a game-winner Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers off the left upright — sandwiched around the Las Vegas Raiders’ botched snap, which crushed any chance for a comeback in the closing minutes.
That’s a lot of good fortune if you’re a Chiefs fan — or maddening if you're the rest of the NFL and praying on the champs' downfall.
“It’s pretty fun — 12-1, finding new ways to win,” safety Justin Reid said. “Matthew Wright comes up big time — didn’t have to doink it off, but it keeps it interesting.”
But Kansas City won’t apologize for its sparkling record.
“The NFL is close,” left guard Joe Thuney said. “The parity is ridiculous. Each week is very competitive and I’m just proud to be part of this team.”
It’s a team that now owns nine consecutive AFC West championships, the second-longest stretch of division dominance in NFL history behind New England’s run of 11 straight AFC East titles from 2009 to 2019.
“It’s not easy, and every year is a little different in how we’ve gotten there,” coach Andy Reid said. “But I’m proud of our guys for just hanging in there. We have so many tight games, more so than some of these other years.”
The Chiefs are 10-0 in one-score games this season and have won 15 straight one-score games dating back to last season and including the playoffs.
But it wasn’t always so (seemingly) easy.
Kansas City was 4-5 in one-score games through Week 16’s Christmas Day loss to Las Vegas a year ago.
“As we’ve been going through it, I thought a lot about last year, when we had a lot of close games and they tended to go the other way,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said.
This year feels better for the Chiefs, who are comfortable in uncomfortably tight late-game settings.
“We’re always trying to better ourselves,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “Some situations we haven’t been perfect in, but we never stop believing. It’s an extra ability to dig a little deeper, have that much confidence and play fast.”
Kansas City punched a playoff ticket last week and guaranteed itself a home game by wrapping up the AFC West crown, but success in the Kingdom is measured in Super Bowls during the Patrick Mahomes era — and everyone knows it.
“It’s a great feeling and it’s something that we’re going to enjoy today, tomorrow,” Justin Reid said. “But we all know our goals are bigger than just a division championship. But it is the first benchmark, the first milestone on our journey of where we want to go to.”
“It’s a great achievement, but there’s more left,” Andy Reid said.
“You certainly never take them for granted,” Hunt said of winning a division title. He added, “It’s been a very special time period for the Kansas City Chiefs, an incredible era. ... We have an opportunity to do something that’s never been done (a Super Bowl three-peat), and we’re all in on it.”
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