KANSAS CITY, Mo. After missing two field goals in a game for the first time in his career, it all came down to Harrison Butker.
Again.
This time, his 36-yard field goal attempt split the uprights to give the Chiefs a 27-24 lead over Baltimore with 4:42 left in Kansas Citys first overtime game of the year.
Then it was up to the defense to do something, anything, to keep quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens out of the end zone.
Linebackers Dee Ford and Justin Houston, who forced overtime with his strip sack and fumble recovery, answered the call, sacking Jackson on second down and injuring the quarterback on the play.
Facing third-and-22, Robert Griffin III, playing in place of Jackson, nearly threw a pick to cornerback Orlando Scandrick, but Scandrick dropped the ball. It didnt matter, though, as the Chiefs (11-2) sealed their victory on the next play as Kendall Fuller batted Griffins pass away to help the Chiefs clinch a playoff spot with three weeks left in the regular season, handing the Ravens (7-6) their first loss at Arrowhead Stadium in the process.
Facing their first fourth-quarter deficit at home all season, the Chiefs had their first major gut-check moment of the afternoon.
With four minutes to go, this was the time for Patrick Mahomes to pull off another miracle: clinch a postseason berth with three weeks left in the regular season.
Mahomes lived up to his legend by converting a fourth-and-9 to a 48-yard strike to Tyreek Hill on a pass few would even attempt. A few plays later, he capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown strike to Damien Williams to tie the game at 24 with less than a minute to go.
Then, it was time for the Chiefs defense, which gave up 182 rushing yards to that point, to whip out a little wizardry of its own.
And the unit did just hat, courtesy of Houston, who stripped the ball from Jackson and recovered the fumble at Baltimores 23 to set up for what wouldve been a game-winning 43-yard field goal.
But the ball went wide right the second wide right kick from Butker on Sunday afternoon and sent the game to the Chiefs first overtime of the season.
Long before the overtime period, the Chiefs got on the board first Sunday afternoon as running back Damien Williams scored his first touchdown as a Chief and first rushing score since 2016 with a one-yard run late in the first quarter. But it didnt take the Ravens offense long to answer as they ran the ball eight straight times on their first scoring drive, finishing the possession with a three-yard run to the end zone by Kenneth Dixon to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter.
The Chiefs had a chance to take the lead back on the next drive, but kicker Harrison Butker missed a 51-yard field goal. Instead, the Ravens kicked a 28-yard field goal on their next drive to go up 10-7.
Leaning heavily on tight end Travis Kelce, the Chiefs responded with a nine-play, 60 yard scoring drive to go up 14-10 on a 15-yard Kelce touchdown reception late in the second quarter. Thanks to a three-and-out forced by the Chiefs defense on the next drive, Kansas City tacked on a field goal as time expired in the half to take a 17-10 lead into half.
Then, in the third quarter, the Ravens tied it up at 17 after a clock-chewing 7 minute, 15 second drive. It was exactly what Baltimore needed to do to hang with the AFC West favorites, grinding out the drive on the ground before tossing a 10-yard pass to Maxx Williams on fourth-and-2 to put six more points on the board.
But as bad as the defense was at times on Sunday, it got some crucial stops when needed most. With the game tied in the fourth quarter, a combination of the Chiefs defense and self-inflicted penalties against the Ravens kept a Baltimore drive from going much of anywhere. The Ravens were forced to punt, giving Mahomes the ball with 6:50 to go.
