Chargers rally to beat turnover-prone Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chargers had just turned the Kansas City Chiefs over for the fourth time Sunday. Los Angeles coach Brandon Staley was left with a crucial fourthdown call with less than a minute left in a tie game.
Send out his kicker for a 48yard field goal, even though Tristan Vizcaino already missed an extra point. Or place the outcome with Justin Herbert and the offense.
“We wanted to leave the ball in Justin’s hands,” Staley said. “We wanted him to be the game decider.”
Good idea.
Herbert threw a jump ball that produced a pass interference call on the Chiefs’ DeAndre Baker and a first down. Then he hit Mike Williams with consecutive completions, including the TD throw with 32 seconds left that lifted Los Angeles to a 30-24 victory over the five-time defending AFC West champions.
“We’re fortunate we have a gangsta quarterback,” Staley said with a grin.
Herbert finished with 281 yards passing and four TDs without an interception, outdueling Patrick Mahomes in a matchup not only of two of the game’s best young quarterbacks but two teams expected to compete for a division title.
Instead, the up-and-coming Chargers (2-1) won for the third time in four trips to Kansas City while sending the two-time defending conference champion Chiefs (1-2) to the division cellar.
“You can’t overcome four turnovers,” said Chiefs assistant Dave Toub, who took postgame questions because coach Andy Reid was feeling ill. “I thought that was the story of the game.”
ESPN reported that Reid, 63, was transported to a local hospital after the game and treated for dehydration. The team posted on Twitter that Reid was “doing well, currently resting & in stable condition.”
The Chiefs trailed 14-0 early but had climbed back into the game in the second half, taking a 24-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter. But the Chargers tied it on Vizcaino’s short field goal, and after Mahomes was picked by Kahuku High School alum Alohi Gilman with 1:42 to go, Herbert began the march for the go-ahead touchdown.
He converted a third-and-2 near midfield with a pass to Keenen Allen, then the Chargers were bailed out on a fourthdown incompletion by Baker’s pass interference. Herbert hit Williams for a 16-yard gain before finding his big wide receiver in the end zone for the second time in the game.
The Chiefs got to midfield in the closing seconds, but Mahomes’ throw to the end zone was incomplete.
Williams finished with 122 yards and two touchdowns. Austin Ekeler and Allen also had touchdown catches for the Chargers.
Mahomes finished with 260 yards passing and three touchdowns to go with his two interceptions, while Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 100 yards with a touchdown catch but was responsible for one of two Kansas City fumbles.
“Nobody is happy with the way we played,” Mahomes said.