Late escape sees Chiefs somehow stay perfect

The Kansas City Chiefs somehow kept their unbeaten streak going in the most dramatic fashion on a Sunday of frantic finishes in the NFL.

The defending Super Bowl champions improved to 9-0 for the season but only by blocking a Denver Broncos field goal as time expired to escape with a 16-14 victory.

That was just one of three games on Sunday to be decided by the last kicks of the game, with the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions earning dramatic wins via the boots of their kickers.

Things went from bad to worse for the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys, with the Chicago Bears another hyped-up side struggling to keep their season alive.

The Chiefs have found all manner of ways to keep their winning run rolling, but blocking Will Lutz's 35-yard field goal on the final play was perhaps the pick of the bunch.

The Denver Broncos did everything right before then - sacking Patrick Mahomes four times while rookie quarterback Box Nix threw two touchdowns and led a fine final drive to set up the opportunity to win the game.

But this is a special 15-game winning run the Chiefs are on. They are the fifth Super Bowl winners to start the season 9-0 and are on the longest winning streak since the Green Bay Packers won 19 straight in 2010-11.

Andy Reid's side have now won the past nine times they have trailed in the second half and have outscored opponents by 38 points in the fourth quarter or overtime.

In short, they never know when they are beaten.

The Detroit Lions came from 23-7 down and overcame five Jared Goff interceptions to pip the Houston Texans thanks to Jakes Bates' 52-yard field goal on the final play.

That could be a defining win for Dan Campbell's side, who at 8-1 after seven straight wins are leading the way in the NFC race for the Super Bowl.

Running back Christian McCaffrey had a 100-yard game on his belated seasonal debut, quarterback Brock Purdy had a season-high 353 passing yards and rookie Ricky Pearsall scored his first NFL touchdown but the San Francisco 49ers still almost blew their game in Tampa Bay.

Jake Moody missed three field goals but managed to redeem himself by booting the game winner from 44 yards as time expired.

It also went down to the wire in New Orleans, where the Saints ended their seven-game losing run by edging out the Atlanta Falcons in interim head coach Darren Rizzi's first game in charge.

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo also missed three field goals but had no shot at redemption as Kirk Cousins ran out of time on a frantic final drive when trying to get into kicking range.

Rookie star Jayden Daniels had his toughest day in the office so far but still showed promise as his Washington Commanders lost a 28-27 thriller against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Daniels managed to guide Washington into a 10-point lead against one of the best defences in the league, but he came up short after Russell Wilson overcame three sacks and a rare interception to put the Steelers ahead.

The QB switch to Wilson has certainly improved Pittsburgh's offence and with four wins in a row they now top the AFC North ahead of Baltimore - who they play next week.

Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray produced a scintillating display in a dominant 31-6 success over the New York Jets - with 266 yards, a passing touchdown and two rushing scores in a fourth straight win for the Cardinals.

Aaron Rodgers had no answer as the Cardinals defence did not allow a touchdown for the third straight home game and they now look a team to watch for the play-offs.

The play-offs appear well out of reach for the 3-7 Jets, who fancied a Super Bowl run with Rodgers but have now lost six of seven and looked totally lost in Arizona.

"We're playing like trash," was Jets wide receiver Garret Wilson's verdict.

It looks even bleaker for the Dallas Cowboys, who looked lifeless in attack without injured quarterback Dak Prescott as they were demolished 34-6 by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Prescott could miss the rest of the season, but their season will be over soon enough if they continue producing the kind of performances that have seen them lose four in a row.

The Chicago Bears are another fancied side in trouble. Caleb Williams was sacked nine times in a 19-3 home defeat by the New England Patriots that dropped them to 4-5.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is under serious pressure after the worst of three straight losses and the team's inability to score points despite their array of talented playmakers.

The Minnesota Vikings dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars but could not score a touchdown and had to hang on for an ugly 12-7 win in the end.

Sam Darnold throwing three interceptions did not help, but Jags quarterback Mac Jones, standing in for the injured Trevor Lawrence, also made errors as the Vikings hung on.

Teams who had failed to score a touchdown and committed three or more turnovers had gone 0-147 before Minnesota bucked that trend.

Buffalo warmed up for next week's heavyweight clash with the Chiefs by comfortably beating the Indianapolis Colts to move to 8-2 for the first time since 1993 - the last time they reached the Super Bowl.

The Carolina Panthers edged out the New York Giants in Germany and the Los Angeles Chargers put away the Tennessee Titans for a third win in a row.