The Kansas City Chiefs’ streak of pulling a rabbit out of the hat at the end of games has seemingly vanished. On Sunday afternoon, the Chiefs fell short in their bid to remain in the AFC West race after losing to the first-place Denver Broncos, 22-19.
After Sunday’s loss, the Chiefs dropped to 5-5 on the season, which is 3.5 games behind the Broncos for the division lead, while also sitting a game and a half behind the 7-4 Los Angeles Chargers.
Sunday’s Loss Had Historical Significance For the Chiefs
The Chiefs’ most recent shortcoming was notable not only because it puts Andy Reid’s club nearly all the way out of the picture to win the division, but it also marked the nine-time defending divisional champion’s fifth-straight loss in a one-score game.
All four of the Chiefs’ losses heading into Sunday’s contest have been by one score, with losses to the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Chargers. Before this season, the Chiefs had gone 17-0 in one-score games since Week 17 of the 2023 season.
What Went Wrong For the Chiefs in Week 11?
Heading into Sunday’s pivotal AFC West showdown, the Chiefs’ path to victory was for their defense to keep it close enough so that Patrick Mahomes and team could put together a game-winning drive against the vaunted Broncos’ top-ranked defense.
For the most part, that’s precisely how the game played out as Mahomes’ stat line looked similar to his usual self, throwing for 276 yards and a touchdown, while veteran tailback Kareem Hunt averaged nearly five yards per carry on the ground.
However, Mahomes was picked off during the Chiefs’ opening drive of the second half, which led to a four-yard touchdown run for Broncos’ running back, Jaleel McLaughlin, who gave Sean Payton’s team the 13-6 lead.
The Chiefs would answer back with a Kareem Hunt touchdown plunge, and the visitors would even take a 19-16 lead after Mahomes hooked up with future Hall of Fame tight end, Travis Kelce, for a vintage 21-yard score with under 10 minutes to go in the contest.
That lead was short-lived as the Broncos would tie the game with a field goal before the dominant, new version of the Orange Crush defense would hunker down and halt Mahomes and co., who ran six plays for a total of negative eight yards on their final two possessions.
Broncos kicker Will Lutz would enact some revenge on the Chiefs and connected on a 35-yard field goal as time expired to give his club the 22-19 victory, almost a year to the day after he had a 34-yard potential game-winning field goal blocked in Kansas City in Week 10 of the 2024 season.
Despite sitting with a 5-5 record with just seven games remaining, PFSN’s Playoff Meter gives the Chiefs a 53.6% chance to make the playoffs.
The Chiefs look to get back on track in Week 12 when they play host to the white-hot Indianapolis Colts, who are tied with the New England Patriots and the Broncos for the best record in the AFC.