KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It took the Kansas City Chiefs three times, but they finally clinched the AFC West championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs.
They took care of business by beating the Oakland Raiders 35-3 on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs finished the regular season 12-4 and would win the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Chargers because of a better division record, 5-1, than the Chargers, 4-2. The Chargers (11-4) were leading the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter.
Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes to give him 50 for the season and also passed the 5,000-yard mark with his 281 passing yards.
Every other AFC team has at least five losses, giving the Chiefs a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Arrowhead historically has been no advantage for the Chiefs in the playoffs. They lost their last six home games in the postseason since an overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1993 playoffs.
The Chiefs had home field advantage in 1995 and 1997 but lost their divisional round playoff game each time, first to the Indianapolis Colts and later to the Denver Broncos.
The Chiefs could have clinched the AFC West championship by winning either of their last two games, but lost to the Chargers and Seattle Seahawks.