HOUSTON — The Kansas City Chiefs, a franchise that in the first 55 years of its existence never won so much as back-to-back division titles, clinched their seventh consecutive AFC West championship Sunday by beating the Houston Texans 30-24 in overtime.
The Texans (1-12-1) made things interesting for the Chiefs (11-3). Houston led 14-13 at halftime, and Kansas City didn’t take its first lead until nine minutes remained in the third quarter.
But on its second possession of overtime, following a fumble by Texans quarterback Davis Mills, Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon rushed 26 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
The seven straight division titles is tied with the Los Angeles Rams (1973-79) for the second-longest streak in NFL history. The New England Patriots won the AFC East title 11 straight seasons from 2009 to 2019.
Kansas City also holds the longest active division-title run in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, according to the Elias Sports Bureau data.
The Chiefs are chasing the Buffalo Bills (11-3) for the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. The top seed gets the conference’s only first-round bye and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl. The Chiefs haven’t played a road playoff game since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018.
The Bills hold the tiebreaker over the Chiefs because of a 24-20 victory in Kansas City in Week 6.