What's the Chiefs' record on Christmas? Here are 4 times they've played on the holiday.

Joseph Hernandez, The Kansas City Star on Dec 24, 2024

Published in Football

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have both had the merriest of times and found coal in their stockings playing on Christmas, history suggests.

The Christmas clash against the Pittsburgh Steelers at noon Wednesday marks the fifth time the Chiefs will play on the holiday. It’ll also be their third game in 11 days this season. If the Chiefs win, it secures them the No. 1 seed and the only first-round bye in the AFC.

The 2024 game will mark the first road Christmas game for the Chiefs, since the previous four were all played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Of the four games, three were against AFC West opponents and one was a playoff game.

The Chiefs hold a 2-2 record on Christmas, and this game will tie them with the Dallas Cowboys for the most games played on the holiday. Here’s how they fared in each game, from the most to least recent games.

2023: The Las Vegas Raiders

— Result: 20-14 loss

The Raiders Who Stole Christmas left Chiefs fans wishing they asked for a different present on their way out of Kansas City in 2023.

The season reached a low point for Kansas City during their 20-14 loss to Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas. Two turnovers that led to two defensive touchdowns on consecutive drives stunned the home crowd, and the Patrick Mahomes-led offense couldn’t recover.

The team dropped to 9-6, and it marked their fourth loss at home that season.

On the bright side, since then, the Chiefs won their third Super Bowl in five years and have only lost one other game.

2016: The Denver Broncos

— Result: 33-10 win

The Chiefs dominated another division foe on the holiday in 2016, defeating the Denver Broncos on their way to winning the first of nine straight AFC West division championships. The trio of quarterback Alex Smith, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill all scored touchdowns, but the most important score came from the largest man on the team at the time.

With under two minutes left in the game, the Chiefs lined up defensive tackle Dontari Poe as a Wildcat quarterback and threw a jump-pass to tight end Demetrius Harris for a 2-yard touchdown. After the game, coach Andy Reid called the play a “bloated Tebow pass.”

“We’ve been practicing it for a few weeks now,” Poe said at the time. “Practice makes perfect.”

2004: The Oakland Raiders

— Result: 31-30 win

The Raiders were based in Oakland during this 2004 Christmas matchup against Kansas City, but, unlike in 2023, it was the Chiefs who would come out on top.

The teams went back and forth at Arrowhead Stadium. Two Trent Green touchdown passes to Tony Gonzalez helped the Chiefs forge a 21-21 tie at halftime, but the Raiders took a 24-21 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

Oakland went ahead on Sebastian Janikowski’s 46-yard field goal with 1:03 remaining. But Dante Hall’s 49-yard kickoff return set up the Chiefs at the Raiders’ 36. The Chiefs moved to the 20, where kicker Lawrence Tynes booted a 38-yard field goal with 26 seconds to play for a 31-30 victory.

1971: The Miami Dolphins

— Result: 27-24 loss

The first Christmas game in Chiefs history was also a playoff game and the last game at Municipal Stadium, the former home of the Chiefs. The 1971 game holds the record for the longest NFL game in history, clocking in at 82 minutes and 40 seconds of game time.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs were on the wrong side of history.

The Miami Dolphins punched their ticket to the AFC championship, handing Kansas City a 27-24 loss in double overtime. The Chiefs jumped to a 10-0 lead and never trailed through four quarters. But when kicker Jan Stenerud missed a 31-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, overtime was guaranteed.

Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian’s 37-yard field goal ended the game and the Chiefs’ playoff run. They wouldn’t make the postseason again until 1986.