After the Kansas City Chiefs claimed their fifth walk-off win of the season on Sunday, quarterback Patrick Mahomes says he would prefer to win without the drama at the end of games.
Following the Chiefs’ 30-27 win over the Carolina Panthers, sealed by rookie Spencer Shrader’s 31-yard field goal in the last second, Mahomes admitted there is room for improvement.
He said: “You want to have some blowouts. You want to be a little calmer in the fourth quarter.
“I’ve always said it can be a good thing as you get to the play-offs and later in the season, just knowing that you’ve been in those moments before and knowing how to kind of attack it.
“But I would love to win a game [before] the very last play.”
The Chiefs, now 10-1, have tied an NFL record with eight wins by one score in their first 11 games.
Half of their victories have come down to the final play.
Among these are a blocked field goal, an overtime touchdown, a near-miss on an opposing receiver’s endzone catch, and now two decisive field goals.
Goodnight to everyone, but especially Spencer Shrader 😴
See y’all Friday, Chiefs Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/LvxBAjSG0W
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 25, 2024
Mahomes orchestrated the game-winning drive against the Panthers.
It began with two short completions before a pivotal 33-yard scramble put Kansas City in range for Shrader’s game-winner.
Mahomes has a history of game-defining runs in high-stakes moments.
During Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles, his 26-yard run was the longest play of the Chiefs’ winning drive.
Similarly, in their Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers, he contributed a crucial 19-yard run on the decisive drive.
He added: “It’s not like I pre-plan that stuff.
“It’s just whenever it comes down to it and you’ve got to make the play, I feel like I try to go out there and make the play, and that’s why I feel like it happens kind of later in games sometimes.
“You don’t want to slide. You have to kind of put your body out there knowing that you can take hits and stuff like that, but we’ve been able to make some big runs and some big moments.”
