Arrowhead Pride
Is winning close games a skill? Is it luck? Or is it a little bit of both?
We all have our opinions on the matter. The Kansas City Chiefs are putting those opinions to the test.
Last season, the Chiefs were 11-0 in one-score games, a stretch that was part of an NFL-record 17 straight victories in such games.
Now that required a bit of good fortune. But it wasn’t all luck… right?
So how can it be that Kansas City has lost all five of 2025’s one-score games?
The Chiefs have lost these matchups in just about every way you can imagine. In the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, the defense had no answers for quarterback Justin Herbert — and the offense failed to adjust after wide receiver Xavier Worthy’s injury took him out of the game.
But Kansas City still had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game. In the third quarter, placekicker Harrison Butker missed an extra point that would have tied the matchup at 13. Early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs’ 2-point conversion failed, ruining a chance to tie the score at 20. Los Angeles scored a touchdown on a seven-minute drive, putting Kansas City down by two scores with just five minutes to play.
A week later, the Philadelphia Eagles came to Arrowhead. Butker missed another kick — a 56-yard field goal — but it was hard to get upset about that after the team failed to capitalize on so many opportunities.
Early in the third quarter, the Chiefs failed on fourth-and-1 from their own 36-yard line — an execution error that immediately resulted in three Philadelphia points. In the fourth, Kansas City had driven deep into Eagles’ territory when safety Andrew Makuba intercepted a tipped pass that he returned 41 yards. That set up the Eagles’ game-winning touchdown. While Kansas City made it interesting by scoring a touchdown with three minutes left, the defense couldn’t get the ball back before time expired.
Then came the road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Boy… talk about self-inflicted wounds!
Kansas City committed defensive pass interference on a third-and-15, allowed a 38-yard kickoff return, was penalized for holding on its own 31-yard kickoff return and was flagged for a double-team block on another return. Butker also watched one kickoff land out of bounds for a costly penalty.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the Chiefs’ defense allowed Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence to convert two third downs and score two touchdowns on scrambles. Then late in the third quarter, Kansas City was driving to go up by a score when linebacker Devin Lloyd completed a pick-6 that turned a potential 21-14 lead into a 21-14 deficit.
The loss to the Buffalo Bills was, at least, easier to explain. Kansas City got whooped, plain and simple. The defense had no answers for the Bills’ tight ends and slot receivers. The offense had no answers for the looks Buffalo presented. The Chiefs went 3-for-13 on...
