The Kansas City Chiefs are seeing their already slim playoff hopes start to melt away against the rival Los Angeles Chargers, and their awful Week 15 performance at home was made even less fun to watch after one of their emerging young players suffered a concerning injury that understandably led to the two sides scrapping with one another.
Patrick Mahomes tried to reel off a big play to slender deep threat Tyquan Thornton, which led to Chargers defensive back Tony Jefferson going over the middle and knocking Thornton out with a huge hit that seemed to test the limits of legality.
A scuffle ensued, and Jefferson was eventually thrown out of the game. No Charger is going to be held in particularly high regard by this fanbase, but Jefferson has earned an extra level of ire after very clearly using less-than honorable methods here
Chargers' Tony Jefferson's dirty hit on Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton leads to ejection
Kansas City needed any bit of respite they could have been afforded after slogging through what has been a nightmare of a season, and losing one of the few vertical separatiors this team had thanks to Jefferson taking liberties with the rules has to get this fanbase even more red hot.
Thornton, who crossed the 400-yard barrier in this game and is averaging 23 yards per catch on the season, has shown that his speed can still be a viable weapon in the pros after a tough start to NFL life in New England. It appears as though his season may end on a sour note.
This wasn't the first time that a Kansas City pass catcher found himself on the receiving end of a brutal hit from a Chargers defensive back, as Rashee Rice got the Sonic rings knocked out of him when he tried to go across the middle against LA standout Derwin James.
Not only are Kansas City's playoff hopes fading away against a divisional rival, but doing so while Mahomes' already thin group of wide receivers are dropping off due to both legal and illegal hits from Los Angeles makes the struggle sting that much more.