"What happened next is most, if not all, of the difference between the 2024 Chiefs and the 2025 Chiefs. Last season's team managed to save itself a 19-17 victory when Leo Chenal blocked Lutz's kick. Kansas City went an NFL-record 10-0 in games decided by seven points or less. This year's team ... has not done well in one-score games. After Lutz put his kick through the uprights for a 22-19 Denver win, the Chiefs fell to 0-5 in one-score matchups in 2025."
"This was supposed to be the moment when the Chiefs righted the ship. Losing to the Bills in Week 9 was one thing, but Kansas City was now fresh off a bye, which famously affords coach Andy Reid time to build unstoppable game plans. The Broncos were without their best player in star cornerback Pat Surtain II, and Nix was coming off a narrow victory over the Raiders in which he was booed by his own fans."
The 2024 Chiefs excelled in close games, winning a 19-17 contest after Leo Chenal blocked Lutz's kick and finishing an NFL-record 10-0 in seven-point-or-less games. The 2025 Chiefs have faltered in one-score situations, falling to 0-5 after Lutz's 22-19 field-goal win over Kansas City. A bye week failed to reset the team despite facing a Broncos squad missing star cornerback Pat Surtain II and a quarterback coming off a booed victory. Kansas City sits 5-5, 3.5 games behind Denver, losing tiebreakers with both Denver and the Chargers; the nine-year AFC West title streak is in serious jeopardy, and a quieter January and diminished home-field intimidation loom.
Read at ESPN.com
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