
The Kansas City Chiefs ended the season with a 14-12 loss Sunday, Jan. 4 to the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, in a game that saw the ball enter the end zone just once: on a safety in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference.
That safety came with 4:37 to go in the game, when Chiefs quarterback Shane Buechele was tackled in the end zone on third down by Tyree Wilson. Otherwise, both teams had to rely on their kickers to score points, with Harrison Butker drilling kicks from 36, 40, 47, and 41 yards. Two of Butker’s kicks came with less than four minutes to go, putting the Chiefs ahead 12-11 with about a minute to go. Five plays later and facing fourth down, the Raiders turned to Daniel Carlson, who had already connected on field goals of 32, 23 and 55 yards. With eight seconds to spare, Carlson netted a career-long 60 yard field goal to hand the Chiefs their first-ever loss at Allegiant Stadium.
Both teams were generally ineffective on offense, with the Chiefs converting just three of their 16 third down attempts and the Raiders converting four out of 17. Both starting quarterbacks were shuffled out during the game, with the Raiders’ Kenny Pickett only completing one pass for three yards while throwing an interception on the first drive. Chris Oladokun gave up two fumbles in the second quarter, throwing 11-for-17 with 58 yards. Aidan O’Connell came in for Vegas, going ten-for-22 with 102 yards in the air. The Chiefs turns to Shane Buchele in the second half, who went seven-for-14 for 88 yards, 51 of that coming on a play to Hollywood Brown that set up Butker’s fourth field goal. The Chiefs offensive line allowed eight sacks for 62 yards, including the safety.
The Chiefs conclude the season on a six-game losing streak with a 6-11 record. Their lone win in the last nine games of the season came in overtime to Indianapolis, whose promising season collapsed with a seven-game losing streak. The loss means that the Chiefs will turn their attention to April’s draft in Pittsburgh, where the Chiefs are expected to pick tenth. Despite beating the Chiefs, Vegas will have the first pick with a 3-14 record.


