The Chiefs have mastered the art of winning one-score games
NEW ORLEANS — If Super Bowl 2025 is a close game that comes down to the final minutes, it will be familiar territory for the Chiefs.
Kansas City has won an NFL record 17 consecutive one-score games.
The streak dates back to the 2023 regular season and includes the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory over the Bills in the AFC Championship game.
The Chiefs have not been the typical conference champion that dominates opponents.
The Chiefs, who went 15-2 in the regular season, won 12 one-score games this year.
“It’s all these guys,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “When given an opportunity, they’ve stepped up in those situations and as a coach, you love that part and you know that’s a rare thing. These games could’ve gone either way [and] they take so much pride in stepping up and they don’t shrink in those situations.”
It starts with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who always seems to make the big play in the fourth quarter when its needed.
After the win in the AFC title game, Mahomes now has a winning record in games when his team trailed in the fourth quarter. He is an amazing 27-26 in those situations.
That is by far the best winning percentage in that situation in NFL history. The next closest is Daryle Lamonica, who had a .386 winning percentage.
It has not just been Mahomes, though.
Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has come up big several times, including last week’s fourth-down stop of the Bills with two minutes left.
Earlier in the season, Leo Chenal blocked a field goal on the final play of the game to beat the Broncos.
The defense stopped two Falcons drives on downs inside the 20 late in the fourth quarter in Week 3 to win by five points.
“It takes everybody and we’ve done it so many different ways now that we just have full trust and the coaches have trust in the players, players trusting the coaches and we go out there and execute our jobs,” Mahomes said. “When you’ve done it over and over again and it becomes habit.”
Chiefs detractors will also say they have been lucky this season.
That started in Week 1 when Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely was out of bounds by a toenail in the end zone on the final play of the game, giving the Chiefs their first win of the year.
Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell fumbled a snap without being hit as Las Vegas was moving into field goal range in Week 13.
The Chiefs recovered the ball and won the game. Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright’s game-winning field goal against the Chargers hit the upright and bounced in for the win.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said the Chiefs’ late-game success is no accident.
They forced an incompletion from Josh Allen late in the AFC Championship game after Spagnuolo dialed up a perfectly timed blitz.
“All year we’ve been building that,” Jones said. “We work through situations throughout the year, practice late-game situations, two-minute situations. So for us, it’s just another play. we’re very confident and we trust in [Spagnuolo] to put us in the right position to make a play.
“These games are very familiar to us, we’re used to being in these types of situations. We feel very calm, we feel very at peace with what we’re running — the speed of it, the pace of it — and the play-calling.”
The Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl two years ago. Last year, they beat the 49ers in overtime.
It would not be surprising if their quest for a three-peat comes down to the final minutes again.
Don’t bet against the Chiefs if it does.
“They have this personality where they know how to bear down,” Reid said. “They know when to have fun, but they also know when to bear down.”
