Chiefs hold off Raiders to clinch NFL playoff berth / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Chiefs hold off Raiders to clinch NFL playoff berth
The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the NFL playoffs after eking out a 19-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, whose final drive for a potential game-winning field goal ended with a botched snap.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 306 yards and one touchdown and Matt Wright kicked four field goals for the Chiefs, who improved to 11-1 with their 14th straight victory in a game decided by one possession.
Kansas City took a 16-3 lead on a touchdown catch by Justin Watson and three field goals by Wright before the lowly Raiders rallied for a 17-16 edge thanks to two long touchdown passes from Vegas quarterback Aidan O'Connell.
Wright's 32-yard field goal with 9:53 to play put the Chiefs back on top, but with less than two minutes to play O'Connell drove the Raiders from their own eight-yard line to the Chiefs' 32-yard line.
O'Connell spiked the ball to stop the clock and the Raiders lined up for another play, but there was a miscommunication and Andre James snapped the ball before O'Connell was ready.
It bounced off O'Connell and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton recovered the ball to seal the victory.
Kansas City, winners of the last two Super Bowls, became the first team to book a playoff berth, reaching the post-season for a 10th straight season.
"You clinch a playoff berth, that's your first goal -- to get into the playoffs and give yourself a chance to go for that Super Bowl," Mahomes said.
"But we know we have a long ways to go," added Mahomes, whose Chiefs continued to look vulnerable.
Mahomes was sacked five times and was under pressure when he connected with Watson on a six-yard TD pass that put the Chiefs up 10-3 late in the first quarter.
Mahomes's 238th career touchdown pass gave him the Chiefs' franchise record, surpassing Hall of Famer Len Dawson.
O'Connell, back from a broken thumb and starting in place of injured Gardner Minshew, connected on 23 of 35 passes for 340 yards, hitting Brock Bowers for a 33-yard touchdown and Tre Tucker for a 58-yard TD.
Daniel Carlson made a 27-yard field goal for the Raiders in the first quarter but missed three other attempts and never got a chance in the waning seconds.
Mahomes said the Chiefs will have to do better if they want a shot at another Super Bowl.
"We don't feel like we're playing our best football," he said.
"Just to many mistakes at the end of the day. There were times offensively we moved the ball, didn't execute in the red zone. Didn't execute on third down ... so many mistakes.
"We've got to clean that up to get where we want to go.
"Our goal is to get to that Super Bowl," he added. "So we're going to try to continue to get better and better so that we're playing our best football hopefully by the end of the year."
(P.Toussaint--LPdF)
