Another week, another one-score game where the Kansas City Chiefs sneak out a win. Patrick Mahomes and Co. have moved to 11-1 on the season and clinched a playoff berth with a 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. On top of solidifying a spot in the playoffs, this marks the ninth time K.C. has been in a one-score game this season and has now moved to 9-0 with this latest win.
This "Black Friday" matchup was surprisingly close. Coming into this AFC West showdown, the oddsmakers saw the Chiefs as nearly a two-touchdown favorite, but the Raiders nearly pulled off the upset. Down by two points, Las Vegas ran a two-minute drill to perfection to get the ball to the Kansas City 32-yard line. However, a botched snap by Raiders center Jackson Powers-Johnson with roughly 10 seconds to play in regulation was recovered by the Chiefs and eliminated any attempt at a game-winning field goal.
The Raiders took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter thanks to a 58-yard touchdown pass from Aidan O'Connell to Tre Tucker. Kansas City would then retake the lead on the ensuing possession by kicking a chip-shot field goal.
From there, the two sides volleyed key defensive stops before that debacle on the final play from the Raiders offense.
Mahomes finished his day completing 26 of his 46 pass attempts for 306 yards and a touchdown. O'Connell was 23 of 35 for 340 yards and two passing touchdowns.
For more on how this game unfolded, check out our main takeaways below.
While it's easy to say that Kansas City had a little "Black Friday" magic on their side as they edged out yet another win due to a late-game gaffe by the Raiders, there are layers to their win. Defensively, the Chiefs were able to come up with clutch stops when they needed to, which helped limit the impact of the offense's continued struggles. Chris Jones finished with two sacks on the night was routinely disrupting O'Connell when he dropped back to pass, and George Karlaftis also got in on the action with a sack of his own.
Karlaftis was part of a key stretch late in this game that contributed to the winning effort. With the Raiders down 19-17, the offense was getting into a bit of a rhythm and got the ball down to the Kansas City 40-yard line. It was at that juncture where Karlaftis and defensive back Justin Reid batted down back-to-back pass attempts from O'Connell to stall the momentum and force a 58-yard field goal attempt that Las Vegas would go on to miss.
It was stops like that where key plays from Chiefs stars mixed in with some miscues from the Raiders that truly helped push K.C. over the top in this head-to-head.
If you are playing the Chiefs, you have to play perfectly to win, and that wasn't the case here for the Raiders. While Las Vegas enjoyed some strong efforts and brought the defending Super Bowl champions to the brink, there were too many cracks in their upset attempt to go all the way. In what proved to be a two-point loss, Daniel Carlson missed three field goals on the day. While these attempts were from 50-plus yards out, had he connected on just one of these kicks, we could be telling a different story. Meanwhile, the Raiders offense, while punchy in this game, struggled to routinely move deep down the field as it had just one red zone trip in the loss.
Of course, the big reason for the defeat was the late-game collapse by Powers-Johnson, snapping the ball too early, which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Chiefs. That erased what would've been a career drive for O'Connell, who had a strong game along with his defense. Instead of talking about those efforts, however, Las Vegas falls to 2-10.
As we noted previously, this was primed to possibly be a season-defining drive for both the Raiders and Chiefs. Aidan O'Connell moved Las Vegas to the Kansas City 32-yard line after beginning the drive on his own 8-yard line and was setting up what would've been a game-winning field goal attempt. Instead, center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball early at the 15-second mark of the fourth quarter. O'Connell wasn't ready for it, and Kansas City jumped on the loose ball. That was the first and only turnover of the game.
Had Las Vegas played mistake-free and pulled off the upset, the Chiefs hopes of earning the No. 1 seed in the conference would have been diminished and also would've shaken up the NFL Draft board, so there is quite the "what if?" scenario here with this botched snap.
The defining play from this game will be that botched snap that we've unpacked above. That said, from a pure individual effort, Brock Bowers made several highlight plays, including this one-handed reception midway through the third quarter. The rookie tight end was getting held and still somehow managed to come down with the catch.
On top of this play, Bowers also registered a 33-yard touchdown catch, marking another monster day on the stat sheet for the first-year tight end. He finished with 10 catches for 140 yards and that touchdown.
From here, the Chiefs will stick around Arrowhead Stadium and gear up for another AFC West matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. As for the Raiders, they'll be on the road once again, heading down to Tampa to face the Buccaneers.
Just another one-score, last-second win for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders ran a two-minute drill to perfection until center Jackson Powers-Johnson botched the snap with roughly 10 seconds to play. The ball was recovered by K.C. and erased what would've been a game-winning field goal attempt by the Raiders.
O'Connell needs to start working the sideline to stop the clock, but they are well positioned to go for a game-winning field goal.
That's been the theme so far today for the Chiefs offense. Patrick Mahomes has players open but has largely been unable to connect.
Weird circumstance. Initially, the Raiders opted to punt the football away. However, Antonio Pierce then called a timeout and sent out the field goal unit. For the third time today, Daniel Carlson missed. The Chiefs have the lead and will get the ball back.
The Chiefs defense keeps coming up with clutch plays. Karlaftis and Reid knock down passes from O'Connell on back-to-back plays to set up fourth down and a punt.
Man, this Chiefs offense is lost. After the defense slowed down the Raiders, Patrick Mahomes and crew went three-and-out on a drive that lasted less than a minute.
Starting left guard Joe Thuney has now shifted over to left tackle after Wanya Morris' struggles.
Massive stop for the Chiefs defense, which has been solid today despite a couple of touchdowns allowed. That stop has started to give the fans at Arrowhead some life.
Yes, the Chiefs have taken back the lead with a field goal, but it doesn't feel like they've gained any momentum. Their struggles in the red zone have been what's helped keep the Raiders lurking around. So far, Kansas City has converted just one of their five red zone trips into a touchdown.
The Raiders are absolutely destroying this Chiefs offensive line.
The Chiefs have the ball deep inside the red zone yet again. Let's see if they can cash in for a touchdown or settle for a field goal.
What a turn of events! Tre Tucker rips off a 58-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter and the Las Vegas Raiders have taken a 17-16 lead over the Chiefs at Arrowhead. Wow!
Oh man. Patrick Mahomes somehow was able to escape Maxx Crosby's grasp and threw a perfect pass to DeAndre Hopkins, but the wideout drops it. A quick three-and-out for the Chiefs offense ...
The Kansas City Chiefs have let Las Vegas hang around, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. Now, it's a one-score game at Arrowhead.
What a day for Brock Bowers. The Raiders cash in on the huge return by Abdullah with a 33-yard touchdown catch by the rookie tight end.
What a return for Ameer Abdullah! He takes the Chiefs kickoff 69 yards down the field to give the offense possession at the Kansas City 26-yard line. They desperately needed this.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have been out of sync in this second half. The duo had an easy touchdown, but Kelce cut left while Mahomes thought he was going to stay on his current path. That's the difference between a field goal and a touchdown.
Another look at the Bowers catch.
The last thing the Raiders needed was O'Connell to take a sack there and George Karlaftis came crashing from the blindside to take him down for a 15-yard loss. Brutal development for a Raiders offense that desperately needed points. Carlson's 55-yard field goal attempt was wide left, so it's still a 13-3 lead for the Chiefs.
Brock Bowers is flashing his superstardom. The Raiders rookie tight end is getting interfered with and still comes away with a one-handed catch for 29 yards on third-and-5. He is special.
The Chiefs are getting in their way. Should probably be a 17-3 lead, but had to settle for a field goal to make it a 10-point lead over the Raiders. Penalties and a 21-yard sack on Mahomes pushed the offense back to the 34-yard line after getting inside the red zone.
