KANSAS CITY, Mo. – You just knew they were going to win. The Chiefs knew they would win. The fans at Arrowhead Stadium knew it. Maybe most of the millions of people who watched “Sunday Night Football” on NBC did, too.

Whether you love them or hate them – or whether you’re just sick of them – the Chiefs have won once again, in another close game that left their opponents, this time the Los Angeles Chargers, shaking their heads.

The Chiefs are a high-wire circus. They don’t just do the trick of winning one game after another. No. They must increase the danger, reduce their chances of a successful landing, and find a new way to escape the embarrassment.

“As long as we have a chance to go out there, have the ball and make a play, I feel like we can do it,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said.

Instead of a comfortable, dominant win over a division rival, the Chiefs blew a 13-point lead in the second half before Mahomes turned magic in the game’s most critical moments, once again leading his teammates to a dramatic comeback victory, 19-17 Chargers.

However, Mahomes did not score the decisive points. Coach Andy Reid decided that after driving the offense into the red zone, Mahomes should kneel twice before calling a timeout with one second left to set a game-winning field goal to Chiefs third-stringer Matthew Wright , prepare kicker. Then Reid decided not to watch Wright make his 31-yard kick. Reid kept his face forward, as if staring into space. The joke was on Reidwho had to be told that the ball hit the inside of the left post before going through. The moment made starting kicker Harrison Butker — who was sidelined with a left knee injury — smile and laugh.

“I obviously wanted it to go right in the middle,” Wright said. “I’m just glad it went in. … I don’t like to think about hitting the post.”

Unreal 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Wx4a3YhaR1

– NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2024

Just minutes after his game-winning play, Wright was on the field alongside Mahomes and pass rusher Chris Jones for NBC’s postgame interview. Wright, who joined the Chiefs two weeks ago, was one of the first players to wear a fresh new black ball cap, the memorabilia honoring the team that was crowned AFC West champions for the ninth consecutive year.

The Chiefs entered Sunday with 14 straight wins in games decided by a score, the longest streak in NFL history.

But with the Chiefs aiming for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory, this season has been about the team’s last-second victories, each one seemingly stranger than the last. Including Sunday, half of the Chiefs’ 12 wins this season were decided on the final play of the game – Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely’s right big toe was out of bounds instead of a touchdown as time expired, Butker’s game-winning kick over the Bengals running assisted on Kareem Hunt’s overtime touchdown over the Buccaneers, linebacker Leo Chenal’s jump block in the win over the Broncos and kicker Spencer Shrader’s field goal over the Panthers.

“I would much rather it be like that — winning games and finding new ways to win — than losing them,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “If you look at it last year, one of the biggest things was being able to calm the storm around us, focus on ourselves and keep getting better. This is just another version of it: We try to find ways to win and keep finding ways to improve so that we play our best ball at the end of the season.”

This “How about these chiefs!” means even more 🏆 pic.twitter.com/huqt8s9QKh

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2024

The Chiefs’ offense is still not humming. For the second week in a row, the Chiefs scored just one touchdown. Inserting veteran DJ Humphries at left tackle didn’t fix the offensive problems. Humphries did his best to help stabilize the offensive line, but Mahomes was outscored by the Chargers with a season-high 13 hits. Under those circumstances, Mahomes was still brilliant when needed, especially when he was hit or about to be hit.

“We played a lot of good defense,” Mahomes said. “That’s the only bad thing about winning the Super Bowl: You play on the best schedule. We played a lot of good defensive ends and defensive linemen. For me it’s all about finding the weak spot in the pocket. I kind of got pressured on some of the early third downs. I thought I did better as the game went on.”

The Chiefs’ final drive began with less than five minutes left. Mahomes was at a disadvantage: He would be forced to pass the ball over and over again, and the Chargers knew they would have plenty of opportunities to attack him in hopes of generating a negative or a game-winning turnover.

Then Mahomes was at his best. On third-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 40-yard line, Mahomes evaded three defenders in the pocket, moved left and jumped to complete a 14-yard pass to rookie Xavier Worthy.

Mahomes stuff 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/fFF1YhaamM

– NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2024

According to TruMedia, Mahomes has scored a total of 50 expected extra points on third and fourth down plays this season. No other quarterback has added more than 33 total expected points (Buffalo’s Josh Allen).

But after the next snap, things became more difficult for Mahomes: Humphries left the game with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Wanya Morris, a second-year player who allowed 11 pressures on 48 pass-blocking snaps in the Chiefs’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders the previous week.

“I wanted to show why I was there in the first place and why this team trusted me,” Morris said. “It’s definitely good to put the last week behind me, but also not to forget the embarrassment I felt. I feel like this is very important to my growth.”

Mahomes’ final third-down snap began at the Chargers’ 20-yard line after the two-minute warning. After the Chargers exhausted their timeouts, some teams would have opted to run the ball to keep the clock running. Before the Chiefs’ third-and-7 snap, Mahomes said a sentence to Reid to convince him to throw a pass.

“I’m going to make something happen,” Mahomes told Reid.

If the move must be made, 1️⃣5️⃣ makes the move. pic.twitter.com/TIEKFwmPgk

– NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2024

Mahomes made sure the Chargers never got the ball again. He rolled to his right and waited long enough — evading linebacker Daiyan Henley — to find Kelce for a 9-yard completion.

“I thought the Chargers did a good job,” Reid said. “They turned us away. This is more of a game against man-to-man coverage. Up until this point they had been playing the man. If they had done that, it would have been a great decision.”

Unsurprisingly, Mahomes’ wildcard was aided by a teammate in Kelce, who improvised his route.

“He’s supposed to run a corner route,” Mahomes said of Kelce, his expression blank. “It is what it is. I reviewed my reading. As I was getting ready to run, I saw (No.) 87 just sitting in the middle of the field.”

Kelce didn’t reveal what prompted him to change his route or how he did it to surprise the Chargers. Kelce shared that, unlike Reid, he watched Wright score the winning goal.

“Oh yeah, I saw it hit the post,” Kelce said. “The bank is open on Sundays, man.”

(Photo of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)