Carried by his incredible duo, the Chiefs return from Los Angeles with another victory.
Los Angeles Chargers (5-5) – Kansas City Chiefs (8-2): 27-30
We now know that to beat Kansas City you have to deliver the perfect match. The Chargers were not far from it during this Sunday Night Football. The band at Justin Herbert (23/30, 280 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT) thought they had done the hard part when Joshua Palmer (8 receptions, 106 yards and 2 TDs) captured a 6-yard pass in the end -zone, with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. At that time, the Chargers regained the lead (27-23) and had to hold out one last time against the Kansas City attack. Except that once again, Patrick Mahomes (20/34, 329 yards and 3 TDs) and Travis Kelce (6 receptions, 115 yards and 3 TDs) pulled out all the stops. As throughout this meeting.
A drive built with a master hand by the quarterback: 75 yards gained in 1 minute 15. And above all, a conclusion that becomes almost routine for Kansas City. A 17-yard pass from the pitcher for his tight end that ends in the end zone. The remaining 30 seconds will not be enough for the locals to go back in front and Kansas City wins thanks to this symbolic action. The Chargers had a perfect 58 minutes. Against the Chiefs, that’s not enough.
Justin Herbert is better
Los Angeles had yet approached this meeting with ambitions. From the start of the match, the formation of Brandon Staley shows the muscles. They first force their opponents to settle for field goals in their first two drives. At the same time, they scored 10 points in two offensive series (10-6). The return of Keenan Allen is good (5 receptions for 94 yards), but especially Justin Herbert seems to be doing much better. In difficulty for some time with his physical condition, the quarterback now appears at 100%. Good news for the Chargers.
Especially since as the meeting progresses, Patrick Mahomes begins to take the measure of the Californian defense. He finds the fault for the first time on a 4-yard pass to Kelce in the 2nd quarter (10-13). All this while the number 15 of the Chiefs is under pressure from the opposing pass-rush. In the process, Los Angeles responds again with 10 points, thanks in particular to this 1-yard run by Austin Ekeler (19 attempts, 83 yards and 1 TD + 2 receptions and 17 yards) which ends in the end zone ( 20-13). But the Chiefs are on and the Chargers aren’t going to stop them anymore.
Mahomes and Kelce see triple
However, we have to wait for the 4th quarter to see a new touchdown. Travis Kelce is once again in the game and number 87 will restore the advantage to his team on a reception of 32 yards (20-23). The match then delivers in a somewhat crazy sequence with two fumbles in quick succession. In trying to respond, the Chargers suffer the first ball loss of the evening. We say to ourselves that against the Chiefs, they will pay him cash. Except that from the next drive, the defense catches up with the error and knocks the ball out of the hands of Jedrick McKinnon.
This time, Justin Herbert is not going to deprive himself to perfect a drive that he thinks will be decisive in the last moments. 5 minutes, 10 games and 64 yards later, Los Angeles leads by 3 points. This was without counting the third banderilla planted by the Mahomes-Kelce duo at the end of the meeting. When they play like this, both men look unplayable. The Chiefs will have had the answer to everything in this meeting, despite very good Chargers. Kansas City soars in this division with already 8 wins. For Los Angeles, we will have to rely on this performance to move forward, but it is a new defeat that brings them back to the 50% mark.
