The Kansas City Chiefs came out looking flat, but they did what they had to do to get the best of the Los Angeles Chargers in primetime.
The Kansas City Chiefs needed this one.
With seemingly everything they worked so hard to achieve during their unbeaten first month of the year ready to crumble, the Chiefs traveled to Mexico City and overwhelmed the Los Angeles Chargers in order to save their spot atop the AFC West. The end result was a 24-17 victory in primetime on Monday Night Football.
In the first half, the Chiefs looked absolutely flat yet still somehow managed to own a 10-9 lead going into halftime. The defense held the Chargers to three field goals in the first half despite the Chargers dominating the game in terms of yardage. Meanwhile, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes put up a miserable first half with an interception and a pitiful line of 8 completions on 15 attempts for only 63 passing yards.
Fortunately the Chiefs came to life in the second half and came out with a touchdown drive immediately after halftime that culminated with a six yard touchdown run for running back Darrel Williams. Nearly five minutes later, the Chiefs added another touchdown with a beautiful 23-yard throw to tight end Travis Kelce, who enjoyed a terrific night overall with seven catches for 92 yards and a score. He led all Chiefs receivers in targets, receptions and yards.
Throughout the second half, the Chiefs defense came up with big stops. The Chargers ended up scoring a touchdown to bring it within a single score after Keenan Allen was hit for a touchdown late in the third quarter. From there, the Chargers had four chances to drive and tie or win the game and the Chiefs defense stopped them each time. Twice, L.A. was forced to punt the ball and twice they intercepted Philip Rivers (Rashad Fenton, Dan Sorensen). Overall, the Chargers committed four turnovers, all interceptions by Rivers.
With the win, the Chiefs improve to 7-4 on the season and stay in control of the division with the Oakland Raiders waiting for them after Andy Reid and company enjoy a late bye week this season. The Chargers are now 4-7 on the year and essentially out of the playoff picture in a year in which many NFL analysts selected them as Super Bowl contenders before the season began.