In front of a national “Sunday Night Football” audience, the Kansas City Chiefs gutted out a 19-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14, claiming their ninth consecutive AFC West championship.

Here are five things we learned on Sunday.

1. The Chiefs got a 2-for-1 deal on new ways to win a game

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Since Kansas City had already won a game with a last-second field goal by its first-string kicker Harrison Butker (the 26-25 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2) and a last-second field goal by its second-string kicker Spencer Shrader (the 30-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers two weeks ago), it was necessary for the team to win a game with a last-second field goal by its third-string kicker Matthew Wright.

The fact that Wright’s 31-yard field goal doinked off the left upright — and still went through for the win — eliminates one other way the Chiefs might win a close game this season.

Let’s be honest: the Chiefs will never find all the different ways to win a close game this season. After all, it’s mathematically impossible for them to discover more than seven (or maybe eight) new ways. All they really need to do is avoid finding ways to lose close games.

So far, they’ve been astonishingly good at that.

2. The two defenses were just as advertised

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When Arrowhead Pride panelists turned in their predictions for this game, only two of us thought either team would score more than 24 points. There was a good reason for that: both teams have top-flight defenses.

Los Angeles came into Sunday’s game allowing just 15.7 points a game — the league’s best mark. The Chiefs were ranked eighth at 19.6 points per game. And Sunday’s game showed both units doing what they do best. It’s just what we should have expected.

Yes… it was disturbing for Kansas City fans to watch the Chargers offense open the third quarter with a sustained drive to score their first touchdown — and then follow it with a five-play drive to take a 14-13 lead. I’m sure it was just as difficult for Los Angeles fans to watch Patrick Mahomes dink and dunk his way down the field in the second quarter to score Kansas City’s only touchdown — or watch the brilliant plays Mahomes executed on the Chiefs’ final drive.

Sunday’s game was a great example of what good teams do: they probe for weaknesses, adjusting their strategies to take advantage of that day’s opponent. If they succeed, the other team does the same thing. This goes back and forth until the final whistle.

So far this season, Kansas City has done a better job of making those adjustments in 12 of its 13 games. And that’s why it’s still the AFC’s team to beat.

3. We were expecting too much of D.J. Humphries

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With all of the issues that the Chiefs’ offensive line has worked through this season, it’s not surprising that many saw the signing of Humphries — a former first-round pick — as an instant solution to those problems.

This was probably wishful thinking. It’s asking a lot for a player who suffered an ACL injury near the end of one season to be ready to perform at 100% before the end of the following season. It’s even more unreasonable to expect that from a player who’s been with a team for a couple of weeks.

While Humphries didn’t look like an All-Pro against Los Angeles, he didn’t look like an overmatched rookie, either. As the saying goes, he was neither as good as we had hoped nor as bad as we had feared.

But that’s OK. Assuming that the injury that forced him out of Sunday night’s game (reported to be a tweaked hamstring) is not serious, we can expect him to continue to get more in tune with his teammates — and get back into football shape, too. If he can do that, he’ll be fine.

4. Andy Reid — and Patrick Mahomes — are geniuses

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I’m certain there were times in Sunday night’s game where you were ready to tear your hair out over one of Reid’s play-calls or one of Mahomes’ decisions.

But the third-and-7 play that sealed this win was a thing of beauty.

At the snap, the offensive line goes to its left while Mahomes rolls right — with running back Samaje Perine leading him to the flat. After motioning to the left before the snap, wideout DeAndre Hopkins (Yes… DeAndre Hopkins!) does his job: he chips Joey Bosa, who has become a free rusher off the right edge after Jawaan Taylor goes to the left. Bosa and three other Chargers converge on Mahomes, while two others go after Perine.

And for the 431st time, fans of another team exclaimed, “How can they leave Travis Kelce uncovered like that?”

It’s simple — when Reid and Mahomes bait them into it.

5. Buffalo is not unbeatable

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When the Buffalo Bills defeated the Chiefs 30-21 in Week 11, more than a few observers assumed that their remaining schedule — a bye week followed by the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, New York Jets and the Patriots again — would lead to five (if not six) wins. This wasn’t good news for the Chiefs, who would face four AFC playoff teams during their last seven games.

So after Week 13’s action, the New York Times playoff calculator gave the Chiefs a 47% chance to win the AFC’s No. 1 seed. But during Sunday’s late-afternoon games, the Bills recorded a 44-42 road loss to the Rams. By itself, that increased Kansas City’s chance to 68%. Following Sunday’s night’s win over the Chargers, it rose to 77%.

To be sure, the Chiefs must keep winning — in… you know… whatever way they can. And they’re still in control of their destiny: by winning out, they’ll clinch the top seed. But the door is now wide open for Kansas City to clinch it before then.