The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to an incredible seventh consecutive AFC Championship game after a 23-14 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon. The Texans were an extremely game opponent for most of the afternoon, but ultimately Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce created enough big plays and the Chiefs defense turned up the pressure on CJ Stroud to pull away late.
While it felt like the Chiefs were in a reasonably comfortable spot late in the game, with Houston needing a near-miracle to overcome an 11-point deficit as the clock wound down below two minutes, there was some considerable spread drama at play for those who bet on the game. The Chiefs were anywhere from 7.5 to 9.5 favorites depending on when and where you looked, with the spread closing at 9.5 at a bunch of books (including FanDuel, Caesars, and DraftKings). After Ka’imi Fairbairn’s nightmare day continued with a short field goal getting blocked by Leo Chenal for his third missed kick of the afternoon, it looked like Chiefs bettors would cover every number.
However, they couldn’t completely kneel out the clock, but chose to take knees anyways, leaving a short window of time for the Texans. With 15 seconds to play, the Chiefs lined up to punt from their own 18 and had Matt Araiza simply run backwards and out of the end zone for a purposeful safety.
That was the smart play up 11 as it kept it a two-possession game and allowed them to take a free kick rather than a punt that could get blocked for a TD if disaster struck. But for people that bet the Chiefs late on Saturday it was a disaster — and for late Houston bettors, a sudden and unexpected moment of joy. Houston would do nothing with it after the safety kick, ending the game and creating an all-timer for folks that bet the spread at the very end.
