FINAL: For the 10th consecutive year, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the playoffs. This time, via a 19-17 win over the Raiders that improved Kansas City to 11-1…

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – For the 10th consecutive year, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the playoffs. A dynastic run for head coach Andy Reid and the organization continued with the clinching of a decade straight of playoff berths with a 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs moved the ball with relative ease throughout the day but were slowed by an inefficient operation in the red zone. Still, the Chiefs were able to dispatch the Raiders and complete a season sweep of their divisional rival.

The win didn’t come without some nerve-wracking moments. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Las Vegas took a 17-16 lead with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Aidan O’Connell to wide receiver Tre Tucker.

Kansas City responded with an 11-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in Matthew Wright’s fourth made field goal of the day, a 32-yard make that retook a 19-17 Chiefs lead.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense then forced a punt to return the ball to Kansas City’s offense. From there, Kansas City went 3-and-out, requiring another game-saving stop for the Chiefs defense.

After the Raiders drove the ball to Kansas City’s 41-yard line, back-to-back tipped passes from defensive end George Karlaftis and safety Justin Reid helped the Chiefs get a stop. From there, a potential go-ahead 58-yard field goal attempt from Daniel Carlson was chunked, coming up well short of the goalposts.

Another stalled out Chiefs drive gave Las Vegas a final chance. Down to their last drive, a Raiders fumble on an illegal shift at the Chiefs 38-yard line was recovered by linebacker Nick Bolton to secure a Chiefs victory, their 14th straight when the game is decided by one possession.

The Chiefs went into the halftime break with a 10-3 lead after Mahomes connected with wide receiver Justin Watson for a 6-yard touchdown pass. The score was Mahomes’ 238th career passing touchdown in the regular season, helping him surpass Chiefs legend Len Dawson for most in franchise history.

In his return to the lineup, running back Isiah Pacheco ran 7 times for 44 yards. He also caught a pass for 5 yards.

The Chiefs activated kicker Matthew Wright off the practice squad as star kicker Harrison Butker remained on injured reserve and backup kicker Spencer Shrader was out with a hamstring injury. In his first action with the Chiefs since 2022, Wright made four of his five field goal attempts, converting from 25, 42, 35 and 32 yards.

Wright also missed a 59-yard attempt short of the uprights when Kansas City attempted a field goal as time expired in the first half.

Kansas City continued to have red zone struggles throughout Friday afternoon. The Chiefs had five possessions reach the red zone. Four of them resulted in field goals and only one resulted in a touchdown.

Part of the reason the Chiefs offense struggled to execute in the red zone was a lack of protection for Mahomes, who was sacked a career-high five times. On Kansas City’s final drive of the game, Reid and the Chiefs benched second-year left tackle Wanya Morris and slid left guard Joe Thuney into his role. Backup lineman Mike Caliendo slotted in at left guard.

“I thought it was the right thing to do at that time,” Reid said. “Pat took a few hits there, and we were struggling at times.”

After improving to 11-1, Kansas City gets a few extra days off before a Sunday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 8. That game will kick off at 7:20 p.m. CT.