The Kansas City Chiefs have the chance to book their place in the NFL playoffs with five games to spare this week as they continue their pursuit of a historic third successive Super Bowl victory.
Andy Reid's side sit 10-1 and in possession of the No 1 seed in the AFC heading into their Black Friday matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, live on Sky Sports NFL.
They are one of three teams that could clinch their postseason berth as early as this week, alongside the Buffalo Bills (9-2) and the Detroit Lions (11-1).
It comes after Patrick Mahomes and co survived a scare against the Carolina Panthers in Week 12 to run out 30-27 winners on the back of suffering their first defeat of the season to the Bills the previous Sunday.
The Chiefs can secure a playoff spot for the 10th straight season through one of four different scenarios.
Among those is a victory over the Raiders and either a defeat or tie for the Miami Dolphins against the Green Bay Packers in Thursday night's Thanksgiving clash.
The Chiefs will also cement their playoff spot with a win and a Denver Broncos defeat to the Cleveland Browns on Monday, a win plus a Broncos tie and a Los Angeles Chargers defeat to the Atlanta Falcons, or a tie against the Raiders alongside a Dolphins loss to the Packers.
The Bills will meanwhile clinch their fifth straight AFC East title and punch their ticket to the playoffs if they beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Kansas City stormed to a 9-0 start to the campaign in their bid to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls after beating the San Francisco 49ers in overtime in Las Vegas back in February.
They were then dealt their first loss by the Josh Allen-inspired Bills before chalking up their 10th win at the weekend thanks to Spencer Shrader's buzzer-beating field goal, set up by Patrick Mahomes' 33-yard scramble with the Panthers threatening overtime.
Once again it has been Steve Spagnuolo's defense that has played a defining role in the Chiefs' success, with Mahomes enduring his worst start to a campaign - at least statistically - while throwing 11 interceptions within an offense ranked down in 14th in total yards having lost star wide receiver Rashee Rice and running back Isiah Pacheco to injury.
Sunday's victory over the Panthers is the eighth time they have won by one score this season, a tale of two stories in regards to both the offense's struggles putting teams away but also a champion's ability to prevail when it matters most down the stretch.
"You always want to have some blowouts and be a little calmer in the fourth quarter, but I've always said it could be a good thing when you get to the playoffs later in the season knowing that you have been in those moments before, and knowing how to attack it play by play not making it too big of a moment," Mahomes said. "I would love to win a game not by the last play!"
Trading for veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has opened up the field for Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce as a new pair of trusted hands, Creed Humphrey is spearheading one of the league's best interior running games ahead of Kareem Hunt, Pacheco is on his way back from injury and Mahomes - though his numbers are short of what the league has come to expect - continues to pack a weekly 'wow' moment in his back pocket while thriving in the decisive moments.
"We expect greatness from each other and from ourselves, unless we play how we expect we should play we are going to try and be better every time we step on that football field," said Mahomes this week.
"We're getting better and better each and every week and that's all you can ask for. You want to be playing your best football at the end of the year and we're getting there."
Watch the Kansas City Chiefs face the Las Vegas Raiders at 8pm on Friday, live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
