The Kansas City Chiefs secured another improbable win after beating the Las Vegas Raiders 19-17 on Black Friday, and former NFL star Shannon Sharpe believes that the team is blessed with lucky cats.
It looked like the Raiders would complete a late comeback attempt when they were in field goal range with 15 seconds remaining, but the Chiefs recovered a fumble following a bizarre snap. In gaining possession of the ball, the Chiefs iced the game and have now won 14 straight one-possession games to set an NFL record.
The Chiefs haven’t looked at their best this year, but are 11-1 on the season and became the first team to clinch a playoff berth. It’s the earliest clinching scenario since at least 1970, and the Chiefs look destined to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC heading into the postseason.
Sharpe couldn’t quite believe their recent run and speculated that luck must be on Kansas City’s side. “There must be like a million cats in Kansas City,” Sharpe said on ‘Nightcap‘ with co-host Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
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“Ain’t no way a team can be this lucky. I played for 14 years. I have never seen this much luck in 14 years, let alone one season.” Sharpe’s opinion was shared by Ocho, who hinted that he was more skeptical about the Chiefs constantly edging close games.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist or saying the ref is on their side, but if luck has anything to do with anything, they’ve been blessed by the football gods game after game after game,” Ocho said. “For some reason, everything seems to go in their favor.
“I’m not saying the refs are on their side, but somebody has favor for the Chiefs in some of these close games. The game, once again, boring from quarter one to quarter three. But low and behold, the fourth quarter gets here, and everything gets exciting.”
The Chiefs improved to 11-1 after a dramatic ending on Friday. (
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
It wasn’t just the fumbled snap that went against the Raiders, as kicker Daniel Carson missed three of his four field goal attempts during the game. However, Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell took full responsibility for the game-ending fumble, taking the heat away from guard Jackson Powers-Johnson and removing the luck element of the final 15 seconds.
“It’s completely my fault,” O’Connell said after the game. “I was looking out to the right to make sure the guys were set, and I started clapping. In my head I was thinking, signal the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping it tells Jackson to basically snap the ball.
“Jackson did exactly what he should have done and I clapped too early… Super tough, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. So, that’s probably the hardest part to swallow.”
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