KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs teammates Leo Chenal and Travis Kelce made eye contact in the locker room after Sunday’s game. Chenal, the third-year linebacker, wanted to approach Kelce before he took his postgame shower. Kelce, the 12th-year tight end and future Hall of Famer, has one of the best perks in the Chiefs’ locker room at Arrowhead Stadium: His locker is next to the hallway that leads to the showers, cold tub and training room.
Chenal and Kelce dapped each other up to celebrate a thrilling, last-second victory. Then, as the two men chatted, Kelce extended his right hand again, this time an invitation to shake Chenal’s hand.
“Way to f—— battle to the end,” Kelce told Chenal.
The Chiefs should’ve suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday. Instead, it became one of the most memorable days of Chenal’s career.
The Denver Broncos did everything right — their rookie quarterback Bo Nix didn’t commit a turnover, their defense sacked quarterback Patrick Mahomes four times and they possessed the ball for the game’s final six minutes — to set up kicker Wil Lutz for a game-winning 35-yard field goal with one second left on the scoreboard.
The final snap produced the game’s most surprising result for both teams: The Chiefs blocked Lutz’s kick, creating pandemonium at Arrowhead. Amid the celebration, some Chiefs didn’t know who the hero was, the player who made the diving highlight to rescue them for a 16-14 victory.
Once everyone was in the locker room, coach Andy Reid still wasn’t sure who blocked the kick during his postgame speech: “Whoever it was …” Reid was interrupted by many players who shouted one name: “Leo!”
Reid, with perfect comedic timing, responded by looking directly at Chenal.
“All right, Superman,” Reid said.
It’s Leo’s locker room today 😤 pic.twitter.com/1xNEzFIOFL
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 10, 2024
Chenal was on the field for the game’s penultimate play. Broncos coach Sean Payton had his offense, after exhausting all of the Chiefs’ timeouts, place the ball on the right hash, Lutz’s preferred spot for his kick. Just a few minutes earlier, the Chiefs defense considered letting the Broncos score a touchdown, an effort to give the ball back to Mahomes for a chance at a game-winning Hail Mary pass.
“When they’re driving down the field and they cross the 50-yard line, there’s kind of like this heaviness sitting behind your mind,” Chenal said. “It takes a prayer. I was literally praying, like, ‘Please, Jesus, we need something here.’ I do feel like my prayer was answered.”
NFL kickers have a 92 percent success rate on 35-yard field goals over the last five seasons. During the Broncos’ timeout, Chenal told some teammates — defensive tackle Mike Pennel, defensive end George Karlaftis and fellow linebacker Jack Cochrane — that he was going to block the kick.
“Somewhere, he makes a play, defensively (or) special teams,” Reid said of Chenal. “He did a great job. I get to see that every day, how we work that block. It’s something we work on like crazy. It normally doesn’t work quite like that.
“I haven’t been around a lot of those walk-off blocks.”
NOT IN OUR HOUSE 👆 pic.twitter.com/CnXgKHl3jU
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 10, 2024
The last time the Chiefs (9-0) blocked a kick was in Super Bowl LVIII. Early in the fourth quarter of that game, Chenal blocked the extra-point attempt by kicker Jake Moody after the San Francisco 49ers’ lone touchdown in the second half. That helped the Chiefs force overtime, setting up their winning touchdown to become the NFL’s first repeat champion in two decades.
When Chenal rewatched the snap this past offseason, he learned that he should adjust his hands, stiffening them more than usual to help fully block the ball whenever the Chiefs were in a similar situation.
“I want to credit (defensive end) Mike Danna on that one,” Chenal said of Danna in the Super Bowl. “I got credit for the block. It went through my hand, but he’s the one that really stopped the ball.”
Every. Point. Matters.
This huge block set us up to win the Super Bowl in OT 😤 pic.twitter.com/jNwcPSf9hW
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 20, 2024
Against the Broncos (5-5), Chenal lined up in the same spot on the Chiefs’ field-goal block unit.
Two spots to Chenal’s right was safety Justin Reid, who has the quickest first step in the unit. Last season, Reid used his quickness and speed on the edge to block a 38-yard field goal attempt by Lutz in the third quarter of a game the Broncos won as they capitalized on the Chiefs’ season-high five turnovers.
“You’ve got to have a good jump and you have to have a willingness to get there and just lay out,” Justin Reid said. “We felt we had a good feel on when (the snap). I knew they were going to double snap it because of the block last year. Good things happen when you have a bunch of guys getting off at the same time.”
Working off Justin Reid’s presence, special teams coordinator Dave Toub called for the middle of the block unit — Chenal, Karlaftis, Pennel and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton — to win the line of scrimmage with power to give one of his players a chance to leap into Lutz’s kicking path.
“Each week, as the game goes on, it’s more of a feel thing,” Chenal said. “Are they blocking high? Are they giving help to our best get-off guy, J-Reid? A lot of times they’ll go out there (on the perimeter) and leave openings down the middle. It’s a team effort. They have to respect J-Reid on the outside. They can’t lean heavy to one guy.”
Chenal overwhelmed center Alex Forsyth, overpowering him before Lutz kicked the ball.
At the 2022 NFL combine, Chenal’s relative athletic score was almost perfect, a 9.99 out of 10, ranking third out of 2,410 linebackers from 1987 to 2022. He posted a vertical jump of 40.5 inches and lifted 225 pounds 34 times, both elite marks for a linebacker.
Chenal used his rare skills to block Lutz’s kick. Chenal said he blocked the ball with the bottom of his left palm.
“We all got through,” Karlaftis said. “If (Chenal) doesn’t block it, one of us blocks it. It was awesome. I was looking for the ball. The ball was live. Everybody was celebrating, but I was just making sure the fat lady sings.”
The undefeated Chiefs have won nine consecutive games in which they trailed in the second half, including the postseason. No other team in NFL history has won even eight consecutive games in that situation, according to Stats Perform.
Most of the Chiefs on the sideline jumped and sprinted onto the field after cornerback Joshua Williams recovered the ball near the Broncos’ sideline.
“I was already frustrated because I gave up the first down (to receiver Courtland Sutton) on the third down,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “I was watching. I had no words, really. Some things are just meant to be.”
Patrick Mahomes goes NUTS after the blocked FG pic.twitter.com/HA5Ce0fiTc
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 10, 2024
For the first time this season, Mahomes wasn’t at his best in the fourth quarter. The Broncos sacked him four times, a byproduct of the Chiefs having to split snaps at left tackle between Wanya Morris and rookie Kingsley Suamataia because of Morris’ right knee injury early in the second quarter. And Mahomes missed two ideal opportunities to throw a touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, Suamataia and the rest of the offensive line gave Mahomes a clean pocket while rookie receiver Xavier Worthy was open against man coverage from cornerback Riley Moss for a potential 51-yard touchdown. Mahomes, though, missed Worthy and the field. His deep pass landed out of bounds. The Chiefs should’ve scored a touchdown on their final drive. Instead, Mahomes missed Kelce, who was wide open in the back of the end zone, forcing the Chiefs to settle for a short field goal, which ended up being the winning score.
“More than anything, I was just sick about that last drive because I missed that touchdown throw,” Mahomes said. “That would’ve (given) us a chance to make it to where they had to score a touchdown. I put our defense in a bad situation.”
When Mahomes realized the Chiefs won, he lifted his arms, sprinted on the field with his tongue out and pumped his fist while jumping, similar to an elementary student celebrating after the final bell of the spring semester.
“It was just joy,” Mahomes said. “It’s awesome, man, and you live for these moments. When you grow up playing football, you live for the walk-off whatever-it-is. It’s special when you’ve been with these guys for so long, you’ve built this chemistry with them and guys get to make that play.
“It’s something that I’m sure Leo will have for the rest of his life.”
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Once Andy Reid finished his postgame remarks, he let Chenal break down the team’s final huddle, a first-time moment in his career. A few minutes later, before his postgame shower, Chenal asked Kelce for something he’s wanted since his rookie season.
Just before Chenal left the locker room, Kelce, still shirtless, gave his teammate the memento he wanted: his red, game-worn No. 87 jersey with his signature and a short message to Chenal written in black Sharpie on the white No. 7.
“I’ve been waiting for the right time,” Chenal said, smiling. “I felt I earned it.”
(Photo: Sam Lutz / Kansas City Chiefs via AP)
