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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matthew Wright kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal as time expired and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied for a 19-17 victory over the Chargers on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium. It was another agonizing loss for the Chargers, who have dropped seven consecutive to the Chiefs.
Wright’s kick banked through off the left upright.
All games are must-win, of course, but this one felt like more than a run-of-the-mill Week 14 matchup in the days leading up to the game. The Chargers didn’t necessarily need to win to continue their march toward a playoff berth in Jim Harbaugh’s first season as their coach.
Wanting desperately to win and deny the Chiefs their ninth consecutive AFC West title, well that was another story. What’s more, the Chargers had lost six consecutive games to the Chiefs and 18 of their past 21, and there was a sense that they were eager to put an end to their Kansas City woes.
After a halting start, the Chargers finally got rolling.
They rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit to take a 14-13 lead on Gus Edwards’ 3-yard touchdown run and Justin Herbert’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston on their first two possessions of the third quarter. It was the first time the Chargers were shut out in the first half this season.
Kansas City retook the lead 16-14 on Wright’s 50-yard field goal with 13:04 remaining in the game. The Chargers seized it back on Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard field goal with 4:35 left, capping a 14-play, 57-yard drive that took 8:29. It was the Chargers’ third score on three second-half possessions.
The Chargers accomplished nothing of value in the first half, trailing the Chiefs 13-0 by halftime. They couldn’t establish a productive running game and their passing game was out of sync from the start with top receiver Ladd McConkey sidelined by nagging knee and shoulder injuries.
Herbert searched high and low for reliable targets, but no one stepped forward in the absence of McConkey, who has emerged as Herbert’s favorite. McConkey caught nine passes on 12 targets from Herbert for 117 yards in the Chargers’ victory over the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday.
McConkey was forced from last week’s game because of a knee injury.
Herbert tried to connect with Joshua Palmer but overthrew him on a deep pass that likely would have resulted in an 82-yard touchdown because Palmer had sprinted between two Chiefs defenders and was wide open and with nothing but green grass ahead of him. The pass was out of his reach, however.
Later in the half, the Chargers lost Herbert for one play after he landed awkwardly on his left leg after taking a hit from Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton as he completed a pass to Johnston for a 28-yard gain that was nullified by a holding call against rookie right tackle Joe Alt.
Backup Taylor Heinicke replaced Herbert for a third-down play.
Herbert returned to the game for the Chargers’ final series of the half.
The Chiefs managed two field goals from Wright and a 9-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to DeAndre Hopkins with 47 seconds remaining in the half. The scoring pass capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive for the Chiefs, the most efficient possession for either team.
The Chargers were relentless in their pursuit of Mahomes, sacking him three times, and pressuring him into several misfires until the Chiefs’ final possession of the half. Two field goals and one touchdown were more than Herbert and the Chargers could accomplish in the first half.
Then the Chargers finally dented the Chiefs’ defense with a 13-play, 79-yard drive that consumed the first 7:48 of the third quarter and produced Edwards’ 3-yard touchdown run. Dicker’s extra point brought the Chargers within 13-7 with 7:12 left in the third quarter. Suddenly, things looked rosier for the Chargers.
More to come on this story.
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