KANSAS CITY, Missouri, USA (AP) — Matthew Wright kicked a 31-yard field goal that bounced off the left post as time expired, and the Kansas City Chiefs survived another close game and defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 19-17 on Sunday night to win their ninth consecutive title in the AFC West Division.
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Wright was signed by the Kansas City team at the end of November, following consecutive injuries to starting kicker Harrison Butker and his first replacement, Spencer Shrader. In fact, Wright was also called up as an emergency for a game with the San Francisco 49ers.
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Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs (12-1), two-time Super Bowl champions, on a four-and-a-half-minute drive to run out the game clock and set up Wright's fourth field goal, which seemed routine until the ball hit the post on the last tight escape for Kansas City, which has won 10 games by a one-score margin.
Mahomes' Chiefs are approaching the Patriots and Tom Brady's record
With Kansas City's nine consecutive division titles, they are two away from the NFL record, held by the New England Patriots during the Tom Brady era, with 11.
The last time the Chiefs did not win their division was in the 2015 season, which they finished behind Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos, who would later win Super Bowl 50. At that time, Patrick Mahomes was still a second-year player at Texas Tech University.
In the game against the Chargers, the Chiefs were leading 13-0 at halftime, but Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles team woke up in the second half and scored on each of their three possessions. A 37-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker put the Chargers ahead 17-16 with 4:35 left to play.
Then Mahomes sprang into action. He connected with Xavier Worthy for a 14-yard gain on a third down and ten, and ran for another first down. After the two-minute warning, the Chiefs' quarterback dodged a potential tackle and threw a pass to a kneeling Travis Kelce, allowing Kansas City to run out the clock until zero.
In addition to winning the AFC West Division, the Chiefs took a two-game lead over the Bills and the Steelers in the battle to finish as the best team in the conference’s regular season and avoid playing in the first round of the playoffs. There are four weeks left in the season.