How a commercial break flipped the Chiefs’ season — and restored their identity
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A sideline commercial break sparked a leadership surge that shifted Chiefs momentum.
- Defensive anchor Chris Jones rallied teammates, changing energy and forcing a comeback.
- That hour restored the Chiefs’ identity and halted a slide toward a 2025 playoff crisis.
The moment that altered the Chiefs’ season — maybe saved the Chiefs’ season — arrived during a commercial break, with a three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback stuck on the sideline and a running back in the midst of slamming his helmet on the bench.
The Chiefs trailed by 11, less than one quarter shy of a three-game losing streak, a losing record and losing ground in a playoff race that already required them to play from behind. And let’s be real about it: They were lifeless.
“Obviously,” Patrick Mahomes would later say, “the energy’s not good.”
It was elsewhere.
During the break, Chris Jones left his spot in the middle of the defensive line and walked toward the north sideline. He swung his right arm through the air. He paced back toward the end zone, and then toward the south sideline, arm in the air again.
“The huddle before that drive?” Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal would clarify, “yeah, the energy was crazy in there. You could just feel it: We’re not losing.”
If the Chiefs (6-5) make something of this season, the most turbulent in the Mahomes Era, put a bookmark on the ensuing hour in Kansas City.
The Chiefs dug themselves out of a rut for the first time all season, eking out a 23-20 overtime win against the Colts. The flame of their playoff hopes is still lit after all, and it wasn’t the quarterback, head coach or his star tight end who ignited it. Not initially.
The Chiefs forced four consecutive three-and-outs against the No. 1 offense in the NFL, three of them the precursor to scoring drives from an offense that had spent much of the day stuck in slow motion.
This sure felt like the old Chiefs again, and that’s not because they were perfect. It’s because they displayed every last one of their imperfections — the red zone volatility, the lack of explosive plays, the lack of a defensive pass rush, you name it — and still beat a really good football team.
Aren’t those the vintage Chiefs?
The identity of the Mahomes years has always been a misnomer. It’s not defined by its shootouts and red-light-always-on entertainment. The identity of the three championships — the requirement for them, even — is winning when it’s ugly, boring and flawed.
The Chiefs were ugly for long stretches. Frustrating. Certainly flawed.
They won.
To be clear, I’m not saying that championship trait is where this year is suddenly headed. But we are 11 games into an NFL season, and it’s notable that we have finally seen the characteristic that sparked so much of their past success.
“We’ve been in these games,” Mahomes said. “All five of our losses felt like this game — there were plays here or there we didn’t make. We could’ve won all of them, and we didn’t.”
Yes, that’s what I’m saying.
The vintage Chiefs had options. They won because of the quarterback first and foremost, but they won with defensive stops, with blocked field goals, with doinks off the uprights and with a 30-year-old running back carrying a pile into the end zone.
These Chiefs, into the middle of November, had presented all of one path to victory: Blow the other team out of the water, start to finish.
At long last, a team that built a dynasty on the back of its in-game adversity finally showed some.
About time.
The Chiefs were 0-5 in one-score games and 0-5 when trailing at any point in the second half, an unfathomable reality given the history.
It’s why that Chris Jones moment popped. When things haven’t gone well this year, the Chiefs have crumbled — to the point in which no team had a worse fourth-quarter completion percentage when tied or trailing.
On Sunday, backs against the wall, Jones responded with energy. The Chiefs responded to his. And what’s most promising? The sources.
Plural.
Kareem Hunt fumbled inside the red zone — where else? — on the second snap of the fourth quarter. That put the KC defense on the field with an 11-point deficit and 15 minutes to play. A loss, per Next Gen Stats model, would have dipped the Chiefs’ playoff chances to less than 1-in-3.
But how could you not wonder: Are the Chiefs really going to miss the playoffs?
For three quarters Sunday, I’d repeated the same line enough to annoy the rest of The Star’s coverage team in the press box: Someone, at some point, has to make a play. They’d dropped passes, dropped interceptions, missed tackles, and roamed far too frequently in the pocket.
Then for one quarter — and overtime too — it seemed like darn near everybody made a play. I could’ve picked any number of them for an entire column.
Jones had his best game in months. The combination of Charles Omenihu, Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill forced a third-down throwaway on that initial three-and-out that flipped the energy in the stadium. Tranquill shot through the gap to tackle Jonathan Taylor in the backfield for the final three-and-out in overtime.
And an offense that failed to even gain one first down in last week’s game-winning drive opportunity stockpiled them. The Chiefs covered 87 yards before stalling in the red zone — where else? — to tie the game, and then 81 more yards to set up Harrison Butker’s game-winning field goal.
Rashee Rice, swallowed by man-to-man coverage for large portions of the first half, produced a 47-yard catch-and-run on the game-tying drive, and then hauled in a fourth-down pass to keep it moving. Xavier Worthy adjusted on a third-down throw downfield to keep the overtime drive alive.
I could go on.
That’s the point. That’s how this used to work, back when Leo Chenal, Kareem Hunt, Harrison Butker, Matthew Wright and Spencer Shrader were responsible for game-winners. That list is from all of one season.
The Chiefs’ list this year looked more like a clean sheet.
They still have some ground to gain after the Jaguars pulled out an overtime win of their own on Sunday. They’re still fighting from behind.
But that’s finally a spot that looks comfortable again.