DENVER — As Denver’s Will Lutz lined up for a would-be game-winning 35-yard field goal last season in Kansas City, the Chiefs were amid a preposterous run of conjuring late-game magic.

You didn’t know how, or why, or where it would come from. But it was almost a living, breathing part of who they were: a team that virtually always came through, save for the disastrous Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, even when it looked impossible.

Remember back then, when the biggest gripe was that they never win by enough and it stressed you out to watch them win?

That “they almost lost” dynamic was a defining trait those Chiefs harnessed into 12 such wins in the 2024 season, (and an NFL-record 17 in a row overall), including by way of a Baltimore Ravens receiver landing inches out of bounds and a snap going off a Las Vegas Raiders quarterback as they were on the verge of a late go-ahead kick.

And, of course, by linebacker Leo Chenal blocking Lutz’s field-goal attempt to preserve a 16-14 win. With many teammates engulfed in the celebration, cornerback Trent McDuffie initially froze and was left speechless over a moment he figured was “just meant to be” for a team that was destined for its third straight Super Bowl appearance.

So the juxtaposition was jarring on Sunday in Denver, when Lutz took the field on the last play for, once again, a 35-yard attempt to win the game. This time, nothing suggested a Chiefs team that was 0-4 in one-score games this season somehow was going to find a way to salvage a win.

And … they sure didn’t, falling 22-19 after Lutz’s kick.

The loss relegated them to a 5-5 record, infinity behind Denver (9-2) in the race for the AFC West — the division they’ve dominated most of the last decade by winning 54 of their previous 64 games against divisional foes and nine straight titles.

For that matter, oof, if the season ended today the Chiefs wouldn’t even be in the postseason field. They’re on the outside looking in, with Houston and Buffalo sharing the same record.

That’s a jarring prospect for a franchise, and its fan base, that has played in the last seven AFC Championship Games, won five of those and three hoisted Super Bowl trophies in that span.

Now the Chiefs are left talking not about winning their 10th straight divisional title and how it’s the first goal that makes everything else possible but this:

At the end of the day, Patrick Mahomes said, it’s about finding a way to get in the playoffs.

None of which is to say it’s over for the Chiefs.

Count out Mahomes at your peril, because of his indomitable will and talent and the receipts he’ll keep. And I actually think defensive tackle Chris Jones was right after the game when he said, “I think we have the pieces to win out.”

Just not if those pieces go to pieces like they did Sunday — especially when it mattered most, in the late-game crucible that used to be prime time for the Chiefs.

Not that they didn’t put themselves in a predicament all along.

Mahomes overthrew Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton on deep passes on the Chiefs’ first series of the game. Connect on one of those, and the tone of the game is entirely different.

Mahomes also threw a red-zone interception, and the Chiefs committed a zillion penalties with 10 for 69 yards accepted. They allowed a 70-yard punt return, and Harrison Butker missed a point-after.

Or as coach Andy Reid put it, “There were a variety of things that went on that we all contributed to, throughout, both sides of the ball and special teams.”

Nothing was ultimately more glaring, though, than the final stretch featuring two Chiefs offensive series in the last 8 minutes, 11 seconds of the game.

The first of those came after they’d taken a 19-16 lead and forced a Denver punt.

This was when good teams distance themselves. Or at least eat some clock and tilt field position.

The Chiefs did none of the above after a Noah Gray false start and failing to convert a third-and-2 pass from Mahomes to Brashard Smith.

After they punted and the Broncos tied it on another of Lutz’s other four field goals, the Chiefs took over again with 4:10 left — and went backward, with Mahomes taking a sack on third-and-10.

So, to recap: two chances to seize control became two three-and-outs, six plays for minus-8 net yards and two punts that enabled the victory for the Broncos.

The extra twist on this is that Denver now is mirroring what the Chiefs were doing last year:

With the improbable help of converting a third-and-15 on the game-winning drive, the Broncos have won six games by a total of 16 points, a dynamic that on Sunday amplified the reversal of fortune with the Chiefs.

When that good mojo was the Chiefs’ forte instead of their Kryptonite, it wasn’t simply luck any more than that’s what it is for the Broncos now.

It was a confluence of things that fed off themselves: a bundle made up of mindset, resilience and a certain poised faith.

The stuff that made you feel these things were meant to be — and kept happening not just because they made the play but made the plays to make that play matter.

It manifested in an intangible winning edge, one that radiated off the Chiefs and that sometimes seemed to sink opponents.

Now, though, it’s so intangible as to be imperceptible.

With so much of their nucleus back, it’s hard to believe that vital quality has just faded away. I’d reckon it’s more dormant than gone, and that likelihood is why no team would really want to play the Chiefs in the playoffs.

But they’re going to have to summon it, pronto, lest this season become not just a changing of the order in the AFC West, but also a momentous absence in the AFC’s postseason bracket.

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