The Kansas City Chiefs won another thriller, 19-17, over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.
Here are some quick notes from the win.
1. The Chiefs are AFC West champions for a ninth-straight season.
Kansas City locked up its ninth-consecutive division title on Sunday night, extending what was already the second-longest streak of division championships for any team in league history.
Only the New England Patriots, who won 11 straight AFC East titles from 2009-19, compiled a longer streak.
Additionally, only three players have been on Kansas City’s roster for the entirety of the streak, which began in 2016: tight end Travis Kelce, defensive lineman Chris Jones and longsnapper James Winchester. It’s a remarkable run that’s characterized by the Chiefs’ ability to adapt and sustain success despite the ever-changing landscape of the NFL.
2. Kansas City has now won 12+ games in six of the last seven years.
The Chiefs secured at least 12 victories on the campaign for the sixth time in the last seven seasons on Sunday, as they’ve now done so in 2018 (12), 2019 (12), 2020 (14), 2021 (12), 2022 (14) and 2024 (12, and counting).
For context, no other team has more than three 12-win seasons in that span.
Kansas City is 87-25 in the regular season since 2018, which leads the NFL by 13 wins.
3. Matthew Wright is now the third kicker to connect on a walk-off winner for Kansas City this season.
Wright was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goal attempts (and 1-for-1 on extra-point tries) on Sunday, connecting on kicks of 47 yards, 33 yards, 50 yards and 31 yards.
His final kick – a 31-yarder – secured the win for Kansas City as time expired in regulation, and in doing so, Wright became the third Chiefs kicker to successfully guide a walk-off, game-winning field goal attempt through the uprights, joining Harrison Butker (Week 2) and Spencer Shrader (Week 12).
Unsurprisingly, the Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to win three games on the leg of three different kickers in walk-off fashion.
4. Tight end Travis Kelce surpassed 12,000 receiving yards for his brilliant career.
Kelce caught five passes for 45 yards on Sunday while making history in multiple ways in the process. For one thing, Kelce topped the 12,000-yard mark for his career, becoming the fastest tight end in NFL history to do so (172 games). The previous record-holder, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, hit the 12,000-yard mark in 210 games.
The All-Pro tight end also notched his ninth-consecutive season with at least 80 catches on Sunday night, breaking the NFL record that he previously shared with Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice (all with eight straight).
5. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins found the end zone for the fourth time as a Chief.
Hopkins hauled in a 9-yard touchdown reception in the final minute of the first half, marking his fourth scoring grab since joining Kansas City in late October. The veteran wide receiver now has 30 grabs for 357 yards and four scores in seven games with Kansas City.
6. Wide receiver Xavier Worthy made a pair of critical plays on third down.
Worthy made two enormous plays on Sunday night that may be lost in the box score, but shouldn’t be forgotten. The first play took place on the Chiefs’ final drive of the first half, when he hauled in an 11-yard catch on 3rd-and-7 that moved the chains and kept the series alive. The drive, which would have resulted in a punt had it not been for Worthy’s efforts, ended with DeAndre Hopkins’ touchdown grab a handful of snaps later.
His second play, which occurred on the Chiefs’ game-winning series, converted a 3rd-and-10 with a 14-yard grab. It’s impossible to know what would have happened if the Chiefs hadn’t converted in that situation, but Kansas City’s chances of winning certainly would have taken a hit.
Both plays were a great example of Worthy’s development into a reliable playmaker in major spots.
7. Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton notched a pair of sacks on Sunday night.
Wharton logged two sacks on Sunday night, which were a single-game career-best. His second sack, in particular, was a critical one, too. The Chargers, trailing by two points, were facing a 2nd-and-9 at the Chiefs’ 17-yard line with just over six minutes remaining in the game when Wharton sacked Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert for a loss of seven yards.
The sack essentially forced the Chargers to settle for a go-ahead field goal (rather than a touchdown) two snaps later, representing the difference between a one-point and (at least) a four-point deficit. In other words, a Chargers’ touchdown on that series would have forced the Chiefs to answer with a touchdown of their own in order to win the game.
Instead, Wharton’s sack helped create the game-winning opportunity for Matthew Wright, which he didn’t waste.
8. The Chiefs haven’t committed a turnover in three-straight games.
Kansas City, which committed at least one giveaway in each of its first eight games to begin the year, has now turned the ball over just twice over its last five games (both of which took place against Buffalo).
The Chiefs’ 12 giveaways between Week 1 and Week 9 were the 10th-most in the league, but in the time since, Kansas City is tied for the fewest giveaways of any team in the NFL.
9. Patrick Mahomes won the 101st career game as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback.
Mahomes led the Chiefs to victory for the 101st time in his career on Sunday (including the playoffs), passing Tom Brady (100) for the most through a quarterback’s first eight seasons in NFL history, and keep in mind, Mahomes started just one game during his rookie year.
Mahomes also moved to a ridiculous 8-2 when facing the league’s top scoring defense with Sunday’s victory, and 21-3 when facing a top-five scoring defense.
10. The Chiefs are now 35-6 vs. AFC West opponents since 2018.
Kansas City has now won 35 of its last 41 games against divisional opponents, marking the best record for any team against their own division in that span by five wins. Going even further back, the Chiefs are a ridiculous 56-15 vs. AFC West opponents since Head Coach Andy Reid took over back in 2013.
The Chiefs are 5-0 in divisional matchups this season with one game (a Week 18 matchup against the Broncos) remaining.
Now at 12-1, Kansas City will turn the page toward a matchup with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
