Patrick Mahomes is getting a tad exhausted by the nail-biters.
Spencer Shrader's 31-yard field goal as time expired on Sunday lifted the Kansas City Chiefs to 10-1 with a 30-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers. It marked K.C.'s fifth walk-off game of the season.
"You always want to have some blowouts and be a little calmer in the fourth quarter, but I've always said it could be a good thing when you get to the playoffs later in the season knowing that you have been in those moments before, and knowing how to attack it play by play not making it too big of a moment," Mahomes said, via The Associated Press. "But I would say this more than anybody, I would love to win a game not by the very last play."
The Chiefs moved to 8-0 in one-score games this season -- the most such wins in the league in 2024 -- and remain the only team undefeated in one-score games. Whether it's a blocked field goal, a fourth-quarter game-winning drive or a late stop, Chiefs games have been drama-filled.
In Sunday's road win, K.C. built a 20-6 lead over the struggling Panthers but watched as Bryce Young led a ferocious comeback. The Panthers tied the game at 27 with 1:46 remaining -- far too much time for Mahomes.
The Chiefs QB calmly led K.C. into scoring range. After converting a third-and-2 pass to DeAndre Hopkins that kept the drive alive, Mahomes scrambled, eschewing the chance to go out of bounds, cut upfield, and dashed 33 yards into field goal range. The QB might not be the most dynamic runner, but no one uses his legs in bigger moments than the three-time Super Bowl MVP.
"It's not like I pre-plan that stuff," Mahomes said of his scampers. "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."
Avoiding the collapse against Carolina pushed Mahomes' career record to 59-4 in his career when he has a 14-point lead at some point in the game, including playoffs (last loss: 2021 AFC Championship Game vs. Bengals).