Chiefs hold off Raiders to clinch NFL playoff berth

LOS ANGELES: The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the NFL playoffs after eking out a 19-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, whose final drive for a potential game-winning field goal ended with a botched snap.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 306 yards and one touchdown and Matt Wright kicked four field goals for the Chiefs, who improved to 11-1 with their 14th straight victory in a game decided by one possession.

Kansas City took a 16-3 lead on a touchdown catch by Justin Watson and three field goals by Wright before the lowly Raiders rallied for a 17-16 edge thanks to two long touchdown passes from Vegas quarterback Aidan O´Connell.

Wright´s 32-yard field goal with 9:53 to play put the Chiefs back on top, but with less than two minutes to play O´Connell drove the Raiders from their own eight-yard line to the Chiefs´ 32-yard line.

O´Connell spiked the ball to stop the clock and the Raiders lined up for another play, but there was a miscommunication and Andre James snapped the ball before O´Connell was ready.

It bounced off O´Connell and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton recovered the ball to seal the victory.

Kansas City, winners of the last two Super Bowls, became the first team to book a playoff berth, reaching the post-season for a 10th straight season.

“You clinch a playoff berth, that´s your first goal -- to get into the playoffs and give yourself a chance to go for that Super Bowl,” Mahomes said.

“But we know we have a long ways to go,” added Mahomes, whose Chiefs continued to look vulnerable.

Mahomes was sacked five times and was under pressure when he connected with Watson on a six-yard TD pass that put the Chiefs up 10-3 late in the first quarter.

Mahomes´s 238th career touchdown pass gave him the Chiefs´ franchise record, surpassing Hall of Famer Len Dawson.

O´Connell, back from a broken thumb and starting in place of injured Gardner Minshew, connected on 23 of 35 passes for 340 yards, hitting Brock Bowers for a 33-yard touchdown and Tre Tucker for a 58-yard TD.