The art of the narrow victory: How the Chiefs keep pulling out close wins

NEW ORLEANS — They can’t keep getting away with this.

That’s been the common refrain regarding the Kansas City Chiefs’ habit of winning narrowly. Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs have won 17 consecutive one-possession games, tied for the most in NFL history. You might even argue they’re procrastinators — waiting until the last minute to lock up their victories.

It’s no coincidence that the line for the Super Bowl is at 1.5 — and the Chiefs are favored. 

“I only make good TV. That’s what I do,” Mahomes said during “The Match” back in 2023. “You never see me win a blowout. I just keep it real close to the end.”

At the time, Mahomes was joking. Or so we thought.

Now… well, there’s obviously some truth to it.

So rather than just saying they can’t keep getting away with this, let’s instead pose a question: How do they keep getting away with this? 

Because Mahomes is a master of the art of the narrow victory.

“I think the art of close games is how well a team handles their situational football and how well they prepare during that week, and how that week of preparation is delivered from the coaching staff,” Julian Edelman told FOX Sports. “I think it’s a correlation of all that together, and that’s something that the Kansas City Chiefs have. 

“I went and watched their practice. They were clean. There was no wasted time. … I think that that way to use your time when you’re preparing is what ultimately helps you in winning close games. And they’ve had the experience of doing it. And so that belief — when you believe you can do it, it’s hard [to beat them].” 

Preparation is the very nature of being a repeat champion. No one overlooks Kansas City. To the contrary, every single team brings its very best — with increased motivation to stop the three-peat. It’s a bit like the 2007 Patriots, with every team wanting to ruin New England’s undefeated record. And so naturally, we got some Patriots to weigh in on why and how the Chiefs can keep converting nail-biters at a higher rate than third downs.

“If you’re better prepared in situational football, you can thrive [in close games], and you can overcome the challenges and beat teams that are better than you,” Rob Gronkowski said. “That’s what we did in New England, and you see it happening all the time. The Kansas City Chiefs are more prepared in situations than the team that they’re facing.”

Here’s an example why: In training camp, the Chiefs run a maniacal drill — the 15-play drive.

“They’re for conditioning the mind and the body,” said Dan Williams, the team’s assistant QBs coach.

Those drives have been the bedrock of K.C.’s identity this year. The Chiefs are hard-nosed. They’re tough. They’re relentless. They run hard and — even when tired — they play smart in the passing game. These drills are so taxing that they abandon them for the regular season to make sure they’re not draining their players on game weeks.

Those weeks are plenty draining already. 

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, humble as ever, said the Chiefs were “lucky” to stop Josh Allen and the Bills on that final fourth down where Kansas City sent an exotic blitz that stumped the QB and his offensive line and, in turn, rendered the play useless. The ball fell incomplete and it was a turnover on downs. Allen never got the ball back and the Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl. Spagnuolo laughed when I pointed out that it wasn’t luck. He and I both knew it was no coincidence that particular blitz confused Allen.

“I just hope we can have more of those going forward,” he said. 

And then he said something that reinforced that it wasn’t luck.

“We do have a menu of things prepared for those situations that we go through during the week, and that’s a group effort. Assistant coaches and myself, and then we feed it to the players,” Spagnuolo said.

This is how the NFL works. Teams play basic defenses for first and second down. Then on third and — when necessary — fourth down, the Chiefs dial up what’s most interesting. It’s true for both offense and defense. That’s why both the offense and defense address those crunch-time moments at the top of the week. They prioritize the moments that are obviously most important.

“I really do believe that begins at the top with Coach Reid in how he prepares the whole team. We, as a defensive unit, are always talking about situational football, and we spend a good chunk of time early in the week on the fourth downs and the two-minute [drill],” Spagnuolo said. “We do that right from the beginning. We don’t wait until the end of the week to do fourth downs or two-minute, because we feel like those are the situations — red zone, third down, two-minute, fourth down — where you win and lose football games. And it’s evident from the way we have had things happen this year.”

Things often don’t go to plan during those situations. 

You may not get the look you want. You will almost definitely get something confusing or exotic on the other side of the ball — and it might not be something familiar or even discernible. So the Chiefs prepare for that, too.

“It’s about not always giving the optimum look in practice,” QBs coach David Girardi said. “Maybe give them that secondary [look], that third. Maybe it’s a variety that a team could present, and then letting the guys work through it on the field and figure that out. So I think knowing your opponent, having a good idea who they are, what they like to do. And also, know yourself, who you are what you like to do, and have answers for the team.”

We’re not yet in the era of dissecting who is more responsible for the Chiefs’ Dynasty. But someday, we’ll get there. It’ll be a question of Mahomes or Reid. 

Special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Dave Toub also said the art of the narrow victory “starts with Andy. He sets the bar.” Passing-game coordinator Joe Bleymaier attributed it to Mahomes. “It definitely starts with the quarterback first and foremost,” Bleymaier said. 

But here’s the other thing about the art of the narrow victory that most people don’t talk about. Everyone told me that it was about preparation. It was about preparing for what to expect. And then it was about preparing for what you wouldn’t expect, so that you’re ready for anything. But when the game gets into motion, sometimes that preparation matters less than the intangible stuff — like a healthy cocktail of talent and belief. 

“I think sometimes, situationally, teams or coaches, even players, get into their head that there’s a right play and wrong play. There’s like a black-and-white way to approach the situation,” Bleymaier said. “What we’ve found is it’s much more gray in that there are no right plays or wrong plays. … It might be the ‘wrong play’ but the conviction of the guys like, ‘We’ll make it work anyways.'”

The players know right from wrong. They know the coaches taught them the rules. And they break them, because they have faith in the call — and the players involved in that call. 

Here’s an example. Against the Texans in the playoffs, Houston was in Cover-2 for a crucial third down, which was exactly what the Chiefs didn’t want. They were running a play to their running back where a bunch-formation of three receivers cleared space for the RB. And in Cover-2 zone defense, the play should fail. It’s a man-beater. But Mahomes saw the zone and trusted Samaje Perine to get it done.

And even if the odds were against the RB, he did exactly that.

If that play sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the exact same play that the Chiefs used against the Bills to ice the game in the AFC Championship. Against Buffalo, they got the proper look, so it was a no-brainer. Situationally, it seemed crazy to throw the ball if it fell incomplete, stopping the clock and giving the Bills more time to engineer a game-winning drive. But the Chiefs had seen this play succeed when it was meant to fail. It would be a breeze to get it done when the Bills were in the perfect look for the Chiefs’ play design.

The bottom line is that the art of the narrow victory is designing a team that acknowledges the importance of it. Sure, K.C. would like to win by 30. But that ain’t happening often in the NFL. There’s parity, particularly when teams are highly motivated. It’s more likely to finish within one possession than not.

Maybe the Chiefs are proof that this isn’t an art at all. Maybe they have it down to a science.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna. 

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