Patrick Mahomes: Chargers faced ‘hard decision’ to punt in overtime

Patrick Mahomes says he understands why the Chargers decided to punt in overtime.

It’s the call that’s still being debated 24 hours later. The discussion is likely to continue on for much longer than that.

On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Chargers lost a game to the Kansas City Chiefs that they largely dominated. If not for some last second heroics, an incredible performance from Harrison Butker, and a key decision in overtime, the Chargers are likely sitting on top of the AFC West this morning. Instead, they’re asking themselves what went wrong.

Part of what went wrong comes down to what you believe about a decision made by Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn a few minutes into overtime. The Chargers won the coin toss and went to work to put the game away, but the Chiefs defense held them well. Here’s the sequence:

• Starting at their own 25-yard line, Justin Herbert throws a 1-yard pass to Keenan Allen.
• On 2nd-and-9, Austin Ekeler takes the ball and runs for a two-yard gain.
• On 3rd-and-7, a six-yard pass to Mike Williams left the Chargers with a 4th-and-1 situation at their own 34-yard line.

From there, Lynn decided to put his faith in his defense, the one that had, for the most part, limited Patrick Mahomes and company from doing the damage typically inflicted week after week. Mahomes had a mere 60 passing yards at halftime and the Chargers pass rush had applied constant pressure all afternoon.

At the same time, Lynn had also just watched K.C. roar back to life. After scoring on only one of their first five drives of the game, the Chiefs had scored on three consecutive when Lynn gave them the ball back. Given they also had a kicker who’d connected from 58 yards out, the Chiefs had the momentum and assets on offense and special teams to clearly put the game away.

We all know the rest of the story. The Chiefs moved the ball 39 yards, just enough to put Harrison Butker in range to connect on yet another 58-yard attempts and the Chiefs went to 2-0. It seemed scripted. A coach that had watched the Chiefs win six of their last seven games matchups (since Lynn took over as head coach in ’17) decided to give them one more chance. Of course the Chiefs won.

However, after the game, Mahomes said that it wasn’t so cut-and-dry. In fact, he called it a “hard decision” for Lynn—or any coach for that matter—to make in the moment.

“That’s a hard decision being on your side of the field,” said Mahomes on KCSP 610 Sports Radio. “If you don’t get it, for some reason, then the game’s already over right then with Harriso and how he kicks the football. So obviously their defense is really good. I know if we’d been in that situation, it would have been really hard for us as well.”

Do you agree? Disagree? In a quick poll on Twitter (that’s still taking votes), the early results make it clear that most fans believe it was the wrong decision.

Let us know what you think on Twitter or hit us in the comments below.