Did the Chiefs just doink their way to a division title?
Sort of.
Did they strengthen their lead in the race for the AFC’s top seed?
Absolutely.
No matter how Matthew Wright’s 31-yard field goal found its way through the goal posts late Sunday night at Arrowhead, the Chiefs’ ridiculous stretch of success in one-score games continued with a 19-17 win over the Chargers — that’s now 15 straight wins dating to last season.
Los Angeles made it a game in the third quarter, scoring consecutive touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead, and was in front 17-16 late in the fourth until, well, Patrick Mahomes happened. After driving the Chiefs down the field, the two-time MVP hit trusty target Travis Kelce on a critical third-and-7 deep in L.A. territory to set up Wright’s 31-yarder as time expired.
Suddenly, the Chiefs are two games ahead of everyone in the AFC.
GO DEEPER
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That’s because the Bills are beatable. Riding a seven-game win streak — including consecutive victories over each of last season’s Super Bowl teams — Buffalo got six total touchdowns from MVP front-runner Josh Allen and still couldn’t leave Los Angeles with a win. That’s because Puka Nacua was unstoppable, and the Rams put together their best outing of the season in a 44-42 victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive while slowing the Bills’ pursuit of the AFC’s top seed. It was the NFL’s highest-scoring game of the season, and Allen became the first player in history with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in the same game.
Sticking with the contenders, the Eagles weren’t at their best but still held off Bryce Young and the Panthers, 22-16, for their ninth straight win. At 11-2, they are the fourth team to clinch a spot in the playoffs, joining the Chiefs, Bills and Lions. “They did a good job, and we did a bad job,” Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts said after the game, “That starts with me.” Hurts finished with just 108 passing yards. Asked about what the team needs to do better moving forward, star wideout A.J. Brown said, simply, “Passing.”
On the bright side, Saquon Barkley became the Eagles’ all-time leader for rushing yards in a season. He has 1,623 and is on pace for 2,122, which would eclipse Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105, set way back in 1984. Barkley will have a good shot at history, too: three of Philly’s final four opponents rank 27th or worse in rush defense.
The Steelers beat the Browns in Pittsburgh for the 21st straight season. Yes, that’s a real stat — not since 2003 has Cleveland won a regular season game in the Steel City (though the Browns did defeat the Steelers in a 2020 wild-card playoff game in Pittsburgh). With the victory, Mike Tomlin’s team moves to 10-3, two games ahead of Baltimore in the AFC North race. When it comes to the best coaching decisions of the season, Tomlin’s call to go with Russell Wilson as his starting quarterback seven weeks ago has to be right up there. The Steelers are 6-1 since.
In Miami, the Dolphins escaped with a 32-26 overtime win over the Jets to keep their playoff hopes alive and officially seal New York’s 14th straight season without a trip to the postseason. Tua Tagovailoa led a game-tying field goal drive in the closing moments of regulation, then missed just one throw during an eight-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in overtime. The Dolphins have won four of five, breathing life into a season that looked lost in mid-October.
The Jets’ playoff-less streak is the longest such active drought in the league. Maybe firing Robert Saleh five games into the season wasn’t the best idea? New York has dropped seven of eight since.
In San Francisco, the 49ers looked like perennial Super Bowl contenders of years past in an easy 38-13 victory over the Bears. This one was historically one-sided in the first half: San Francisco outgained Chicago a staggering 319 yards to 4. The Niners, all but written off after three straight losses, are 6-7 and somehow still alive in the NFC West. The Bears were once 4-2. They’re now 4-9.
In Arizona, the Seahawks strengthened their NFC West lead with a fourth straight win, 30-18, over the Cardinals. Geno Smith has won five straight starts versus Kyler Murray, and Seattle is heating up again after dropping five of six through Week 9.
Here’s what stood out from the NFL’s Week 14:
Chiefs keep finding ways to win
The movie keeps repeating itself, always with the same ending. If it’s a tight game, the Chiefs find a way. It’s why Kansas City finds itself 12-1 and two games up on the rest of the AFC.
Thanks to another game-winning drive from Mahomes, and that 31-yarder from fill-in kicker Wright — a kick that banged off the left upright before ricocheting through — the Chiefs earned a little separation in the race for the AFC’s top seed and lone bye.
Mahomes threw for 210 yards and a touchdown, nothing electric. Kelce had just 45 receiving yards but the critical catch late. Led by cornerback Trent McDuffie, Kansas City’s defense pitched a shutout in the first half. Two fourth-quarter field goals from Wright were enough.
It was another chapter in the Chiefs’ strange season. So many wild finishes. So many close wins. But as flawed and unconvincing as Kansas City has been at times, the results are undeniable: the Chiefs are now 10-0 in one-possession games.
For the Chargers, the agony continues: it’s their 10th straight loss in games decided by three points or fewer. And it’s their 11th loss to the Chiefs in 13 tries since Mahomes took over the starting job in 2018.
Separation in wild-card race
The playoffs are five weeks away. Here’s where we stand.
In the AFC, the Chiefs, Bills, Steelers and Texans lead their respective divisions. The Ravens, Broncos and Chargers are all 8-5, solidly in the playoff field with four games to go. Of those three teams, Baltimore owns the tiebreaker, having defeated Denver and L.A. this season.
The Colts and Dolphins, both 6-7, are two games back of the seventh and final playoff spot, though Indianapolis has a great opportunity to cut into Denver’s lead next week when the teams square off at Empower Field at Mile High.
In the NFC, the Lions, Eagles, Seahawks and Bucs currently lead the divisions, with the Lions and Eagles having clinched playoff spots. The Vikings (11-2) and Packers (9-4) are in a great position to earn two of the wild-card spots — that is, if Minnesota doesn’t overtake Detroit for the NFC North crown (the teams meet in Week 18.) Washington is currently in the seventh spot, with a one-game lead over the Rams (7-6).
But three teams are just a game behind L.A: the Falcons, Cardinals and 49ers are all 6-7.
The NFC West remains the tightest division in football; all four teams are within two games of each other.
Vikings pass another test
In July, the Vikings weathered the tragic loss of fourth-round draft pick Khyree Jackson, who died in a car accident. They were pummeled with injuries in training camp, including a torn ACL for cornerback Mekhi Blackmon and a torn meniscus for first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. And this was after their starting quarterback of the last six seasons, Kirk Cousins, bolted for Atlanta in free agency.
Sam Darnold — on his fourth team in five years — would step in. Would a lost season in Minnesota follow?
“There’s been some things that … test your culture and foundation and locker room and building,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said in August.
Four months later, the verdict’s in: O’Connell’s team was up for the test.
Following Sunday’s 42-21 rout of Cousins and the Falcons, the Vikings are 11-2, tied for the second-best record in the NFC, and just a game back of the one-loss Lions. Minnesota remains one of the more remarkable stories of this NFL season — and likely the most underappreciated.
Under the tutelage of Kevin O’Connell (right), Sam Darnold has flourished in Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
It starts with O’Connell, who’s done as good of a job as any other coach in football. He’s weathered both offseason and in-season challenges (starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw is on IR, and starting corner Stephon Gilmore has been sidelined with a hamstring injury). He’s guided Darnold to the best season of his career. And he’s lifted the Vikings into legitimate playoff contenders.
“Ya’ll need to start talking about us,” cornerback Byron Murphy told NFL Network after the game. “Talk about the Vikings, because we on one right now.”
Darnold threw for 347 yards and a career-high five touchdowns Sunday, outplaying his Vikings predecessor, who finished with 344 passing yards but no touchdowns and two interceptions. Darnold’s 28 touchdowns are easily the most he’s ever thrown in a season, and there are still four games left. The purple-clad fans at U.S. Bank Stadium brought out the “M-V-P!” chant at the end of this one, and Darnold stood on the sideline, waving a towel in acknowledgment.
“That was a lot of emotion for me,” he said later. “It was pretty fun, man.”
Darnold, on a measly one-year, $10 million contract, deserves plenty of credit for the Vikings’ surprise season. So does defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whose unit hasn’t allowed more than 30 points since Week 8. So does general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who didn’t panic after Cousins left in the spring and bolstered his roster with the type of depth pieces that are paying off in December.
Meanwhile, the Falcons are in a free-for-all. Once 6-3, Atlanta has lost four straight and trails the Bucs by a game in the division.
Cousins is amid one of the worst stretches of his career: He’s thrown eight interceptions in his last four games, and of the 13 he’s thrown this season, eight have come in the fourth quarter. With first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings and Atlanta’s NFC South lead officially history, you have to wonder how much longer coach Raheem Morris can stick with his struggling starter.
Giants, Raiders in race for top overall pick
Before the Giants kicked off Sunday’s game against the Saints, a plane flew over MetLife Stadium towing a banner that spoke to the sorry state of the franchise.
“MR. MARA ENOUGH — PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE,” it read.
Mr. Mara — that’d be Giants owner John Mara — has some important decisions looming over the next few months, starting with whether to keep general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll for 2025. (Mara has said recently he intends on keeping both.)
Another weighty decision could follow in late April. The Giants have a shot to earn the franchise’s first No. 1 overall pick in 60 years.
Sunday’s 14-11 loss to New Orleans dropped New York to 2-11, which is currently tied with Las Vegas — 28-13 losers to Tampa Bay on Sunday — for the worst record in the league. Another of the league’s two-win teams entering Sunday, the Jaguars, beat the Titans to move to 3-10.
So this might be a race between the Giants and Raiders down the stretch. The Giants will see four teams with playoff aspirations: the Ravens, Falcons, Colts and Eagles. The Raiders will face the Falcons, Jaguars, Saints and Chargers.
Quarterback is an obvious need for both the Giants and Raiders entering 2025, but The Athletic’s draft guru Dane Brugler labeled this year’s class “maybe the most polarizing” he’s studied in two decades. Is Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders the top pick? Or his teammate, wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter? Or Miami quarterback Cam Ward?
What seems certain, at least at this juncture: when it comes to taking a QB, this isn’t the Class of 2024. Or 2023. Or 2020. That’s bad news for two franchises desperate for some hope at the most important position on the field.
The Raiders haven’t had the first overall selection since 2007, and missing on that pick — they went with JaMarcus Russell, remember — set the franchise back years. The Giants haven’t picked first since 1965 (New York picked fourth in 2004 but traded with the Chargers for Eli Manning, who went first overall).
(Photo of Patrick Mahomes: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
