American Football: Domination

"Oh my God… Damn it…"

"Touchdown! The referees confirm it—no flags this time. It's official: the Oakland Raiders have just delivered a last-second home-field victory, snapping the Kansas City Chiefs' six-game unbeaten start to the season."

"Wow… Welcome to the NFL."

In competitive sports, anything can happen. Upsets are part of the game. And in the NFL, where teams are closely matched and margins are razor-thin, victory often hangs by a thread.

The Raiders' starting quarterback, Derek Carr, had been struggling with a back injury that derailed Oakland's rhythm. After a promising 2-0 start, they spiraled into a four-game losing streak.

Even though Carr returned last week, the team still couldn't find their groove.

This week, as the Raiders faced off against their division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, nobody expected them to win. On Inside the League, all ten analysts picked the Chiefs to extend their streak to seven games.

But in the NFL, never make assumptions.

The game was fiercely contested, full of penalties, flags, and even ejections. The tension remained high until the very last second.

With 3:24 remaining on the clock, the Chiefs held a 30-24 lead. It looked like their unbeaten record would stay intact.

Then Carr took over.

Leading a relentless drive down the field, Carr pushed the Raiders to the Chiefs' two-yard line. What followed was a brutal back-and-forth.

Penalties on both sides added to the chaos. The Chiefs' defense nearly sealed the win, only for a flag to gift the Raiders another shot. Likewise, the Raiders had a touchdown wiped out by a penalty and had to start over.

On their fourth attempt, Carr connected for a two-yard touchdown pass.

"30-30."

Time expired.

00:00.

But the Raiders still had a chance for the extra point.

Despite missing an extra point earlier, kicker Giorgio Tavecchio held his nerve and nailed it.

"31-30."

The Raiders had done it—a last-second victory, ending the Chiefs' undefeated season.

The Chiefs' offense never got another chance. Lance stood helpless on the sidelines, watching it all unfold.

For the first time, Lance truly understood what it meant to play football:

A game of turns. A team sport.

Without the defense, the offense can't take the field. Without the offense, the game doesn't move forward. Without the special teams, victory might slip away.

It takes a complete team to win.

Despite another strong personal performance, Lance couldn't change the outcome this time.

Frustrated but resigned, he swallowed his first career defeat.

The shocking loss snapped the Chiefs' winning streak. Across the league, pundits were left stunned as Carr threw for 417 yards—the second-highest total of his career—and three touchdowns to orchestrate an unlikely upset.

As for Bart?

"… What the hell."

He was at a loss for words.

Bart couldn't believe his luck.

Just last week, he'd finally conceded defeat in his feud with Lance, admitting he was wrong and becoming one of Lance's biggest supporters.

Now, he was getting smacked in the face again.

Lance's NCAA-to-NFL 21-game winning streak? Gone.

At the hands of the Oakland Raiders, of all teams?

Bart sat there, stunned, his mind racing:

First, he'd been humiliated into admitting he was wrong about Lance. He had no choice but to switch sides and heap praise on him.

Now?

Another slap in the face.

Bart was practically numb.

And, just like that, Bart was trending again—this time as "The Curse of Bart."

The nickname spread like wildfire: "The New Pele."

Soccer legend Pele was infamous for his jinxed predictions, and now Bart had seemingly inherited the curse. Every team he supported seemed doomed to fail.

New England Patriots? Lost.

Philadelphia Eagles? Lost.

Pittsburgh Steelers? Lost.

And now, the Chiefs.

Social media exploded with memes and GIFs of Bart grinning smugly at the camera, paired with captions like, "I've chosen you. Now tell me—are you scared?"

Bart couldn't take it anymore.

"This is professionalism!" he ranted on air. "These are expert opinions based on data and analysis. I'm not just throwing darts at random teams like Pele!"

But the internet wasn't buying it.

Meanwhile, Chiefs fans were left devastated.

Bart had reluctantly backed their team… and they lost.

Desperate, they turned to social media with pleas:

"Bart, please! Stop supporting us. Go back to hating Lance. We need you to hate him again—whatever it takes to lift the curse."

Even Bart began questioning himself.

Had he been right all along? Was Lance just a pretty face—a flashy player without substance?

If he had stuck to his guns and kept criticizing Lance, wouldn't he be hailed as a genius now?

Caught in a spiral of regret and wishful thinking, Bart's imagination ran wild.

Lost in his daydreams, he pictured himself as the lone voice of reason in a sea of misguided praise, vindicated as Lance finally crumbled under pressure.

Reality, however, was much harsher.

After the Raiders, the Chiefs went on to lose to the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys.

Three straight losses.

Andy Reid, recognizing a pattern from 2013, decided to make changes.

During the bye week in Week 10, Reid handed over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.

It wasn't the first time Reid had done this.

Back in 2015, after a disastrous 1-5 start, Reid made a similar adjustment. Doug Pederson took over play-calling, and the Chiefs went on a 10-game winning streak, eventually earning Pederson a head coaching job with the Eagles.

Now, Reid hoped Nagy could spark a similar turnaround.

But this time, the move didn't produce immediate results.

Following their bye week, the Chiefs continued to struggle, losing to the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, and New York Jets.

Three more losses.

From a perfect 6-0 start to a brutal 0-6 stretch. The Chiefs were in free fall.

Fans were reeling.

"Bart… please. We'll do anything. Just go back to hating Lance. We need our team back."

Even Bart was starting to believe in the curse.

Could he really be cursed?

Had he been right about Lance all along?

If he had just kept his stance and refused to back down after the Steelers game, he'd be a legend now.

The thought consumed him, filling his mind with what-ifs and could-have-beens.

Bart sat in silence, lost in his own fantasy of vindication.

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Powerstones?

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