Chiefs Take Commanding Lead of AFC West in Thriller Against Chargers
The Chiefs needed more than 60 minutes to put away Los Angeles, but they keep their hopes of being tops in the AFC seeding alive with a big win on national television
The Chiefs came from behind on Thursday Night Football in a massive divisional match=up against the Los Angeles Chargers to win 34-28. The Chiefs trailed with less than two minutes left but were able to spark a drive to tie the game and force overtime.
Fate was on their side during the extra period as the Chiefs won the coin toss and scored on an outstanding catch and run to take a two game lead on the Chargers in the AFC West with three games to play.
Here’s what stood out:
Prayers for Donald Parham
We saw one of the scariest head injuries you can see when tight end Donald Parham’s head slammed on the ground. He was carted off the field —strapped in with his head secure — with involuntarily shaking hands. Praying for a speedy recovery for him.
Special Teams Troubles
The Chiefs dug themselves in a hole right out of the gate by allowing a long opening kickoff. Luckily Andre Roberts tripped — and luckily the Chiefs’ defense was able to get off the field after a fourth down step in the deep red zone.
The Chargers Were Aggressive
From the opening the drive, the Chargers made some aggressive choices with regard to going for it on fourth down. Three times Los Angeles elected to go for it on fourth down — failing on every occurence. The first occurred on Parham’s injury scare, then a pass deflection from Daniel Sorensen, and finally a pass break up by Nick Bolton on Jared Cook.
Defense Does Enough
The absence of Chris Jones, L’Jarius Sneed, and Willie Gay Jr. was certainly felt in this game. The run fits were poor for most of the game, the secondary depth was tested, and the pass rush was non-existent. But situational football was outstanding — such as the fourth down defense — and they were able to get a turnover.
Run Game Struggles
The Chiefs had a hard time running the ball against the Chargers despite an inviting box count. Los Angeles did a good job adding second and third level defenders into the run fit post-snap and that seemed to affect the Chiefs’ run game.
Bolton Shines
Thursday night was Nick Bolton’s best game as a Chief. He had three (!!!) passes defended on the day and caused an interception. Bolton also led the Chiefs in tackles for the game. He put together a nice performance.
Chiefs Start Hot, Chargers Storm Back
It was a game of runs for both teams. The Chiefs jumped out to a ten point lead early, only to surrender it after the Chargers would go on a 21-3 run. It was the Chiefs turn to go on a 13-0 run to close the game.
Patrick Lavon Mahomes
The best quarterback in the world went off late in the game to bring the Chiefs home a victory. It wasn’t pretty for the entire day. He turned the ball over twice, and had one of the worst throws of his career on a fourth and inches on the goal line.
But late, he was masterful — reminding everyone who doubted him what he’s capable of doing.
Travis Kelce Closes Things Out
The final play of Travis Kelce’s 10 catch, 191 yard, 2 touchdown performance was the game winner.
Kelce had his best game of the year — making some outstanding effort plays to get the Chiefs at the goal line, or past it on the final play. He had been slowed down the two games before the bye week — not today.
One Seed In Play
The Chiefs can be the one seed in the AFC by as early as Sunday afternoon. Wins by the Colts (Saturday against the Patriots) and Steelers (Sunday against the Titans) would put them in the driver’s seat for the coveted lone bye week in the playoffs.
Play Of The Game
PATRICK LAVON MAHOMES IS BACK!
That’s it, that’s the play of the game. Patrick Mahomes had an awful interception at the beginning of the 4th quarter - also an awful play design - that led to the Chargers taking a 21-13 lead in the game. From that moment on, the Chiefs offense just started churning out points left and right ultimately culminating with this game winner.
The route concept is pretty simple to just get Kelce sitting down in a zone coverage void while Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson clear out over the top creating a levels concept look. Kelce slips under Pringle who acts as a little bit of a rub route, sits down in the void, and catches the ball. Quick, easy yardage as the Chiefs look to drive down the fiel… NOT SO FAST.
Kelce’s insane change of direction ability kicks in and he instantly reverses field, pulling away from the first defender. He’s then able to curve upfield without losing any speed and slip underneath Pringle who is just providing a stationary pylon for the next defender in pursuit. Kelce is then able to veer back the initial direction he was moving at the point of the catch. He did all this maintaining his speed allowing him to pull away from every defender chasing him and put the game away.
It’s not as sexy as watching Tyreek Hill run what seems like a 4.01 forty or Jody Fortson jumping into the air roughly 4 feet but it’s just as impressive on the field. Kelce’s ability to make that initial change of direction and then pick up speed while running on a curved line all the way to the end zone is special but he got some help.
Patrick Mahomes also played a huge part in this play apart from delivering the actual pass. Right off the snap Mahomes can be seen working the strong side of this play just to cause movement from the Chargers’ defense but he takes it a step further. He adds a little pump-fake to the running back in the flat which gets two Charger defenders to bite that direction and pull the slot defender away from Kelce’s targeted zone.
Mahomes knew where this ball was going the entire time, he just needed to move some guys around. He snaps to the backside of the play to confirm Kelce is open but doesn’t stop there. He looks towards Pringle running a crossing route towards his right while delivering the ball every so slightly back to his left.
That’s right, a small version of a no-look pass. It’s been a minute since there has been a big one of those in Kansas City butit could be back. It’s hard to say if it had much of an impact on the Chargers defense but the safety just off the screen could have very easily been held in place by Mahomes’ eyes while the ball was coming more to the middle of the field.
I know this Play of the Game wasn’t a surprise but too many special things happened on this play to even consider anything else.
225 - Patrick Mahomes’ passing yards in 4th Quarter/OT
Holy cow, that was a vintage Mahomes performance to close out the game.
After stalling out for much of the second and third quarters of the game — and after a bad interception thrown at his own four yard line — Mahomes rebounded to go nuclear at the end of the game. He racked up three quick 75 yard scoring drives between the fourth quarter and overtime, leading this team back from two deficits and winning the whole thing with a walk-off touchdown.
Mahomes has had times this season — and even in this game — where he’s looked pedestrian compared to his usual high standards. There have been times where the offense needed a score to keep pace or help put the game away, and they’ve come up empty handed. To close out the game tonight, Mahomes was phenomenal and gave this team everything they needed. If this was the switch that flipped to get this offense clicking, the league better look out.
15 - Plays the Chiefs defense faced inside the 5 yard line
The Chiefs defense struggled to stop the Chargers offense from moving the ball down the field. Los Angeles had a 50/50 blend of runs and passes, and they averaged 5.5 yards per play. That may not seem like much, but it was consistent yardage throughout the day. The Chiefs couldn’t get ahead of the sticks because they struggled to stop the run, and the Chargers were able to get their play-action passing game going.
However, that all changed when the Chiefs defense faced the Chargers inside the 5 yard line. The Chiefs allowed just 1.2 yards per play on 15 plays through six total drives, keeping the Chargers from scoring points — not just touchdowns, but points — on three of those drives. Those stops proved to be the difference in this game, as the Chiefs were able to keep it a one possession game throughout the middle when the offense wasn’t scoring.
The Chiefs have faced just 43 plays inside their five yard line on the year, meaning that this game produced over 1/3 of those yearly plays. The Chargers were willing to lay it all out to win this game, and the defensive stops not only helped win this for the Chiefs — it also may have won them the AFC West and put them in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s top seed.