The Kansas City Chiefs won their first one-score game of the 2025 season, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 23-20 with a game-winning field goal in overtime.
First Half
Things looked bleak for the Chiefs early on in this one, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes was picked off on the team’s first offensive play of the game, which would result in a 7-0 lead for the Colts. Kansas City responded with a field goal on a long 17-play drive that stalled out inside the 10 after a controversial facemask call nullified tight Travis Kelce’s 85th career touchdown before the Colts would score again.
A big 48-yard catch and run by wide receiver Ashton Dulin on 3rd and 1 near midfield set Indianapolis up for another touchdown to go up 14-3 early in the second quarter. The Chiefs would respond with another field goal before the defense would force a quick three-and-out, not the last time that they would do that, before the Kansas City offense would drive inside the 10 only to end up with just three points yet again, resulting in a 14-9 lead for the Colts heading into the locker room.
Second Half
In the second half, things didn’t seem to look all that much better as the offense would go three-and-out to begin the half before Indianapolis spread their lead back out to eight with a field goal. Another punt after just a five-play drive made things look grim in Kansas City, as a 27-yard run by Jonathan Taylor, the league’s leading rusher by far this year, helped the Colts put another three points up on the board for a 20-9 lead.
Hope came back into the stadium with a 42-yard reception by wide receiver Rahsee Rice, but a fumble inside the Colts’ 20-yard line by running back Kareem Hunt a couple of plays later sucked the air right back out of the stadium.
Thankfully for the Chiefs Kingdom, the defense got a quick stop, forcing a three-and-out to get the offense the ball right back. Just over five minutes later, the Chiefs were finally able to get over the goal line thanks to a leap by Hunt before Mahomes connected with Rice for the 2-point conversion to make it 20-17 with a bit under nine minutes to play.
The teams would exchange three three-and-outs in a row, two from the Colts, one from the Chiefs, before Kansas City would drive inside the 10 on a long drive yet again, getting it all the way from their own three-yard line to the Indianapolis two with just over a minute left in regulation.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, the Chiefs could not punch the ball in, as they tied the game up with a field goal at the gun by kicker Harrison Butker to send things to overtime.
After the Colts won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball first, the Kansas City defense forced their fourth straight three-and-out, stuffing a 3rd and one run from Taylor for a two-yard loss, giving the ball back to the offense.
For the third time in the contest, the Chiefs would start a drive inside their own 12-yard line, but it didn’t matter, as Mahomes and the offense converted on multiple third and longs, including a 31-yard reception by wide receiver Xavier Worthy on 3rd and seven from the Kansas City twenty four which would help push the Chiefs all the way inside the Colt’s ten-yard line before Butker hit the game winner to give the Chiefs a much needed 23-20 victory.
Key Statistics
Statistically, Kansas City actually largely dominated the Colts, easily winning the possession battle by about 17 minutes and outgaining Indianapolis by 239 total yards. Mahomes ended the day going 29/46 for 352 passing yards with one interception and zero touchdowns, while Hunt ran the ball 30 times for 104 yards. The team rushed the ball a total of 41 times, the second-most that Kansas City has ever carried the rock in the Andy Reid era.
The only problem offensively was the inability to finish in the red zone, kicking a field goal from inside the Indianapolis 10-yard line three separate times. Thankfully, the Chiefs were still able to pull out the win thanks to an incredible effort by the defense.
Not only did the Kansas City defense become the first team all season to force the Colts to kick a field goal after having a goal-to-go situation, but they were also able to bow up for the most important drives of the game.
On the Colts’ final four drives of the game, including overtime, the Chiefs allowed just 12 plays for 13 total yards while also making Indianapolis match a season-low in points (20) and set new season-lows in total yards (255), passing yards (181), and first downs (10).
They also held Taylor, an MVP front-runner for the season and league leader for rushing yards, to just 58 yards on 16 carries. On top of this, they allowed zero receivers past the 48-yard receiving mark while knocking down six separate passes.
The Outlook
The Chiefs now sit back above .500 at 6-5 but actually dropped from the ninth-seed to the tenth-seed despite the huge victory. Kansas City still has several opponents with impressive records on the schedule, with the Dallas Cowboys on deck for Thanksgiving.
It’ll be a short recovery time for the Chiefs after a grueling overtime victory for the team, and despite this, they will need to be ready, as they will potentially have to win out to make the playoffs.
While things still don’t look great for the Chiefs Kingdom, they got a much-needed victory over an AFC contender and still have control over their own destiny in many ways. If the team can execute properly and make the plays that they need to make when they need to make them, they can still make it to the postseason and make a run at yet another Super Bowl victory.