**KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As the Denver Broncos lined up for a 35-yard field goal with one second left, Patrick Mahomes wasn’t exactly optimistic the Kansas City Chiefs would block the kick and escape with a win. However, he did have one reassuring thought: The Chiefs had already pulled off three last-play victories this season. He wasn’t ready to rule it out.
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“If anyone’s going to make it happen, it’s this team,” Mahomes said. “We’ve got the guys who can find a way to get a hand on it. You worry, because it’s out of your control, but I trust my teammates to go out there and make a play.”
And make a play they did. Linebacker Leo Chenal came through in the clutch, getting a hand on Wil Lutz’s field goal attempt and blocking it, sealing a 16-14 victory for the Chiefs and preserving their undefeated season. Kansas City improved to 9-0 and now heads to Buffalo for a matchup with the Bills on Nov. 17.
It wasn’t surprising to the Chiefs that Chenal was the one to make the decisive play. The second-year linebacker had previously blocked a point-after attempt in Super Bowl LVIII, a game the Chiefs eventually won in overtime.
For Chenal, Sunday’s block carried even more weight given the game’s outcome hung in the balance.
“The moment was heavy,” Chenal said. “You feel the weight of it.”
Kansas City’s strategy involved crashing the middle of Denver’s line, anticipating that the Broncos would focus heavily on Justin Reid, who was rushing from the edge. As it turned out, the Chiefs’ collective pressure up the middle created just the right opening, and Chenal was able to swat the ball away with his left palm.
“We’d been talking about it for a while,” Chenal said. “They leave the middle open a lot, and we capitalized on it in a big moment.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, in his 26th season as an NFL head coach, acknowledged he’d never won a game with a blocked kick on the final play.
“We work on blocking kicks like crazy, but it doesn’t usually end like that,” Reid said.
A third-round pick in the 2022 draft, Chenal has shown his versatility by filling various roles for the Chiefs. In addition to his duties as a linebacker, he’s seen time as a defensive lineman and even as an offensive blocker.
Mahomes, impressed by Chenal’s strength, jokingly called him "John Cena," referencing the WWE star known for his power and toughness.
“You don’t want to be the guy working out next to him,” Mahomes said. “We call him John Cena for a reason.”
While Chenal’s heroic block stole the spotlight, it didn’t erase the fact that Denver outplayed the Chiefs for much of the game. The Broncos jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a touchdown early in the second quarter and maintained the advantage until Harrison Butker’s third field goal of the day gave Kansas City a 16-14 lead with just six minutes remaining.
“We outplayed them,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton.
Mahomes didn’t dispute that assessment. Kansas City struggled to execute throughout the game, much like their two low-scoring contests with Denver the previous season, where the Chiefs combined for just one touchdown and 28 points.
“They play hard, they’re well-coached, and they mix up their coverages,” Mahomes said. “If you don’t capitalize on your opportunities, you stall out. You’ve got to execute to beat a good team, and we didn’t do that today. We got lucky, but we found a way to win in the end.”
This wasn’t the first time the Chiefs had pulled off a dramatic win this season. They also earned walk-off victories over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9. While Mahomes admitted the Chiefs would prefer a more comfortable win, he embraced the drama.
“You live for these moments,” Mahomes said. “When you’re growing up playing football, you dream of the walk-off, whatever it is.”
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