The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes look like their old selves, but now with new help

The Kansas City Chiefs last season lost more than Patrick Mahomes, their franchise cornerstone player, to a season-ending injury.

Well before the star quarterback injured two ligaments in his left knee last December, the Chiefs had already lost the air of invincibility they’d built while becoming the NFL’s most-feared team in close games.

That quality had earned the Chiefs three Super Bowl titles under coach Andy Reid, and a 17-game winning streak in games decided by 8 points or less. That streak was snapped in last year’s first game, and from there only got worse.

By last season’s end, their record in one-score games was 1-9, a turnaround some attributed to Mahomes’ inconsistent play before his injury, or a supporting cast of receivers and running backs had grown thin. Tight end Travis Kelce, one of the most prolific pass-catchers in the position’s history, was in the middle of one of his worst statistical seasons. On the ground, the Chiefs ranked near the league’s bottom third in yards per carry.

But two games into this new season, Kansas City is 2-0 and again looks like a team that could be feared in the AFC.

Mahomes appears uninhibited by his knee injury, and now has a number of playmakers surrounding him — led by a familiar face, and one new. And in Sunday’s 33-30 overtime win against Indianapolis, the Chiefs showed again they know how to win a close game while overcoming a wild play that might have changed the outcome.

“There was never a doubt that we were going to get that win,” Kelce said.

A walk-off 40-yard field goal as time expired by Harrison Butker gave the Chiefs their eighth consecutive overtime win in the regular season, tying an NFL record also held by San Francisco (2003-10). Mahomes, who threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns, now has 25 career game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime. The Chiefs join Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Buffalo as the only remaining undefeated teams in the AFC.