Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ overtime win against the Colts
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs mounted second-half comeback, forcing overtime and securing win.
- Game-tying regulation drive and overtime march raised playoff odds to 59%.
- Chiefs quelled late-season frustration to preserve AFC playoff contention.
The Chiefs are alive, after all.
Barely.
The Chiefs beat the Colts 23-20 in overtime on Sunday, using a formula they hadn’t employed all year.
A second-half come back.
They stepped aside some frustrations — OK, a lot of frustration — to produce a game-tying drive in regulation and then a game-winning drive in overtime. They remain in the thick of the AFC playoff race. The win, per Next Gen Stats, surged their playoff chances to 59%. A loss would have dipped them to just 31%.
It’s significant, in other words.
How did it happen? Here are five observations from immediately after the game:
1. The No. 1 offense? Not Sunday
The uh-oh point arrived on the second snap of the fourth quarter, a Kareem Hunt fumble tin the red zone that had the Chiefs staring at a two-score deficit without the ball.
Once. Twice. A third time. And then a fourth.
The Chiefs forced four consecutive three-and-outs in the fourth quarter and then one more in overtime, allowing the offense more than an ample chance to flip the game.
The Colts, for full context, made that task a little easier. For some unknown reason, with a three-point lead and 6 minutes to play, they dropped back to pass on all three plays — with Jonathan Taylor in the backfield.
But still. The Chiefs’ defense caught fire with the season on the line, and they did it against the No. 1 offense in the league.
It helps when Chris Jones responds with his best day. The whole operation looks a lot better when he’s making noise.
2. A comeback, at long last
Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs on the game-winning drive they failed to generate a week ago in Denver.
He had some help from Rashee Rice.
The offense desperately needed someone — anyone — to just make play. It took until the final drive, but Rice made two on the final drive in regulation, and then another in overtime.
Trailing by three in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were backed against their own goal line when Mahomes found Rice for 47 yards to offer more than breathing room. It offered momentum. It offered what they couldn’t get last week: something to kickstart the drive.
Four plays later, Rice pried open on a drag route to convert fourth-down with a 19-yard catch.
Rice is the first receiver to surpass 100 yards in game this season. He had 8 catches for 141 yards.
It’s the primary reason why for first time this season the Chiefs turned a second-half deficit into a victory. They were 0-5 in that spot entering the day.
3. The red zone woes
The Chiefs reach the red zone more frequently than any team in football, and they had little issue advancing there again Sunday, totaling 494 yards.
The problem over the last three weeks? It’s what they do once there.
The Chiefs actually entered their bye week as the NFL’s third most efficient red-zone team. Not anymore.
They turned their initial three trips Sunday into six points — a pair of field goals and a turnover. That ought to sound familiar. That’s the same sum — and elements of the equation — from their initial three trips in Denver a week earlier, too.
They were 1 of 6 in red-zone trips overall. It all came to a head at the end of each half.
The Chiefs drove 87 yards to the 2-yard line, but stalled the drive there. They stalled another on goal-to-go before halftime (and didn’t help their cause by running the ball on first down and burning their only timeout, the same mistake they made two games earlier in Buffalo.)
The Chiefs gained 29 first downs in regulation. The Colts had 10.
It’s hard to separate on the scoreboard when you can’t turn long drives into touchdown drives. They got by without them — but only because of those defensive stops.
4. The passing chart
Wonder what kept the Chiefs’ offense from moving the football in the first half? The story is best told the passing chart.
Patrick Mahomes attempted 21 first-half passes.
Here’s how many traveled more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage in the air: One.
That’s 4.8%.
The Colts locked down the Chiefs’ receivers with man-to-man, and spent most of the game rushing only three or four, leaving one behind for a quarterback spy.
There weren’t a lot of options downfield for Mahomes, but his presence in the pocket left something to be desired. He also appeared triggered shy.
In the second half and overtime combined, Mahomes targeted receivers at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage 13 times. Guess what? They moved the ball more effectively.
The point here is obvious: It’s really hard to put up points when you lack explosive plays. It’s really hard to lack explosive plays when you don’t throw the ball downfield — which we usually classify as 20 yards downfield, by the way.
5. A dreadful start
A week ago, I wrote a lot about the Chiefs’ puzzling inability to respond to in-game adversity — an exercise that prompted a look at their fourth-quarter struggles.
On Sunday, the adversity arrived early.
The first pass Patrick Mahomes threw was tipped and picked by defensive lineman Laiatu Latu, whose return put the Colts on the doorstep. They cashed it in for a touchdown.
The snap adjusted the Chiefs’ win probability from 61% to 46%, per NFLfastR. With 54 minutes left to play, it’s hard to find that kind of swing in the game. It’s been harder yet for the Chiefs to respond to these kinds of plays. Coming into the week, the Chiefs were 1-3 in games with a Mahomes interceptions this season.
That interception didn’t entail much luck — and it was a heck of a defensive play — but the Chiefs aren’t creating much luck early.
It’s typical, in fact.
They are 30th in the NFL in first-quarter scoring, and that’s before they were shutout in the opening 15 minutes Sunday. They are averaging 2.7 points in the opening quarter. It’s an indictment on an opening script that could make things a little easier in the second half.
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM.