For the Kansas City Chiefs, this season will be remembered for their last-second finishes. Andy Reid must be used to the weekly adrenaline rush. He gets one every week. At this rate, he might start carrying a spare clipboard to journal the dramatic endings.

“The Doink for the Division!“, the game announcers couldn’t have summed it up better as the Chiefs clinched the AFC West with a nail-biting 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Andy Reid couldn’t afford to watch the drama unfold in front of his eyes. Matthew Wright kicked the football only to see it hit the inside of the left upright and doink into the net. Chiefs won 19-17. After the game, kicker Matthew Wright shared his honest take on the pressure-packed moment: ” I have no idea what happened after the kick went in. I blacked out.”

It’s safe to say Reid got his weekly dose of stress—Chiefs style. Finding themselves down by 1 point, close to the finish of the 4th quarter seemed an unlikely situation for the Chiefs at the end of the first half. The Chiefs led 13-0 going into the break. The Chargers came roaring back in the 3rd quarter. Chargers’ Running Back Gus Edwards scored a 3-yard touchdown. The Chargers’ defense followed this with a few stops on the Chiefs. With 3:30 left on the clock in the 3rd quarter, they scored another touchdown to take a 1-point lead. Chargers were up 14-13. Kansas City trailed by 1.

In the 4th quarter, the Chiefs scored a field goal, going up 16-14. Shortly after, the Chargers kicked a field goal, regaining the lead at 17-16. Patrick Mahomes ran the clock out, getting key first downs to set up a field goal. With 1 second left, Matthew Wright kicked a 31-yard field goal to seal the win for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs have relied on field goals to seal 2 of their last 3 wins: Spencer Shrader‘s 31-yard FG for a 30-27 victory against the Panthers in Week 12 and Matthew Wright’s kick for a 19-17 finish today. In Week 13, a botched snap by Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell helped the Chiefs claim their 11th win. As the playoffs approach, the Chiefs need to find more convincing ways to close out games. Andy Reid will hope for less stressful wins to help him rest easy during the postseason.

Will Andy Reid’s weekly stress run continue?

The Chiefs have won 15 consecutive 1-score differential games in the last 2 seasons. 6 of them have come this season. Their 12-1 record has come off many games where they have ridden their luck to snatch games away from their opponents. This was also the second consecutive game where the Chiefs scored just one touchdown.

Patrick Mahomes’s team has surely proven that they possess nerves of steel. But true champions are expected to dominate, not just scrape by. Aside from their Week 5 and Week 7 wins over the Saints and 49ers respectively, every other Chiefs’ victory has been by less than 10 points. The Chiefs Kingdom would be celebrating a 9th straight AFC West title, but the bigger question remains: how long can the Chiefs rely on luck?

Matthew Wright is the 3rd Chiefs kicker this season who hit a field goal in the last minutes. Also, he is their third-string kicker. Chiefs signed him to the roster after both Harrison Butker (Week 2 winning FG kicker vs. Bengals) & Spencer Shrader (Week 13 winning FG kicker vs. Raiders) were put on the injured reserve list.

As the season has progressed, managing injuries has become a concern for the Chiefs. The growing stress of winning in the final moments has only made matters worse for them. This could be a serious test for a team that’s the strongest contender for the title and is eyeing a 3-peat. As far as Andy Reid is concerned, he would surely need to go back to the drawing board and ensure the team gets back to the habit of winning games convincingly.