With a thrilling victory Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs are once again AFC West champions. That’s nine division titles in a row for Andy Reid’s team, which marks the second-longest such streak behind the 2009-2019 New England Patriots.

This is a huge accomplishment for Kansas City, even as back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions. Although the organization has bigger goals in mind, it all starts with securing a playoff spot and (ideally) securing a home playoff game. With those two boxes checked, Week 14 is a major milestone for the season.

Shortly after the Chiefs won on a field goal, head coach Andy Reid responded to another divisional clinch.

“Yeah, look, I’m proud of the guys,” Reid said. “I mean, coaches, Clark (Hunt) is giving us the opportunity to do it with Mark Donovan and Brett Veach. We’re all in this together trying to make this happen. It’s not It’s not an easy thing, and every year the way we got there is a little different. I’m proud of our guys for holding on. We have so many close games, more than some of these. other years and feeling like good things are going. happen. Keep fighting.

Team president and CEO Clark Hunt, who played a major role in hiring Reid in 2013, also took a moment to reflect on the aftermath of what was the greatest era in Kansas football City.

“You definitely never take them for granted,” Hunt said. “I think in a lot of ways when you do something for the first time it’s more special, and it wasn’t the first time we won the division. But when we started this streak of nine games, I think we were We didn’t know what was in store for us This was a very special time for the Kansas City Chiefs – an incredible era of Chiefs football. Credit goes to Andy, Brett and their team. I just did a phenomenal job I have to mention them. injuries this year. We’ve definitely had a lot of injuries, especially at the receiver position, and Brett and his team have done a fantastic job every week of finding a solution, finding someone who can come in and help us.

Since Reid took over, all he has done in a little over a decade is become the winningest head coach in franchise history. The future Hall of Famer landed at No. 140 on Sunday, and that’s without even taking into account his ever-growing playoff record. In addition to their division streak, the Chiefs clinched a playoff spot for the 10th straight year. Three of those trips came with Alex Smith under center at quarterback, and then the rest are consistent with Patrick Mahomes’ tenure. All the two-time MVP knows is at least advance to overtime in the AFC Championship Game, which is truly remarkable for someone preparing for his seventh playoff series.

Mahomes himself played a significant role in engineering the Chiefs’ victory on Sunday night. Although he clearly stated that the Super Bowl is still his end goalhe also enjoys extending one of the most impressive stretches of dominance in the sport.

“That’s our number one goal every year, to win the AFC West,” Mahomes said. “It’s a big division (with) a lot of rivalries where everyone competes hard and, I mean, three teams are probably going to make the playoffs. That’s a testament to the division that we play in. To be able to win this division, To win another game in the playoffs, this was an important game for us against a very good football team. We found a way to win, but now we have to keep building if we want to achieve our goal. ultimate. “.

Learn more: Four takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers