They literally climbed off the canvas and somehow came back to draw 31-31 with the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
The Highlanders might have got a draw but they blew a victory, looking all at sea at the end and not matching up in defence at crucial times.
The home side wisely decided to kick for goal with about five minutes left, which gave it a 31-24 lead with less than five minutes left.
But it lost the kick-off, the Chiefs pounced and poured down the field, and eventually replacement prop Angus Ta'avao scored his second try.
Kick-offs and inaccuracy have been common bedfellows for the Highlanders this year. The desperation to collect that crucial kick-off was not there on Saturday night.
The Chiefs were way more desperate near the end and made metres with the ball in hand, despite having to play winger Sean Wainui in the forwards as they ran out of big men up front in the last quarter of the game.
The Highlanders did manage to have one last opportunity but replacement outside back Josh McKay did not back himself to outpace the opposition and from the resulting breakdown the ball was passed to no-one, with the tryline open.
That just about summed it up for the Highlanders on Saturday night - though the inaccuracy started setting in when the first-choice front row was substituted off.
The side just needs to get tougher and more clinical - a bugbear that has been hanging around since the season began.
"I think it was 28-12 with 30 minutes to go and we got ourselves in a good position. But key moments we probably just did not execute what we should have," he said.
"We were just slow to react. We just need to be better in those key moments ... I think it's just the mindset. We have been focusing on winning key moments and being on for 80 minutes."
He said good teams kept the pressure on and players just had to concentrate on the next job and not get ahead of themselves.
The side started well on Saturday night and should have been more ahead than 14-12 at halftime.
It scored a nice try by Josh Ioane in the opening minutes and though the Chiefs scored shortly afterwards, the Highlanders were making breaks and finding the advantage line.
Tries in the second half by Matt Faddes and James Lentjes had the side up by 16 points with about 25 minutes left. But the Chiefs, knowing their season was on the line, came back well to secure the draw.
Best for the Highlanders were front rowers Liam Coltman and Daniel Lienert-Brown, while Ioane had one of his best games, kicking a couple of conversions from the sideline.