Kansas City Beats Chargers in Overtime


“It’s not disrespectful, but that’s just their game plan,” said Hitchens, who also caught an interception. “They don’t want to score from the field, they want to go for it, then we have to make them pay for it.”

The Kansas City offense also fell short by the standards it set by winning back-to-back seasons with the AFC. Once a formidable force, the unit looked mortal this year. Following the Tampa Bay plan deployed in the Super Bowl, teams used two high-safes to tackle Kansas City’s off-field kicks, forcing them to be disciplined in their approach through runs and shorter passes.

During Week 12, opposing teams used two safety lines in 72 percent of Kansas City’s offensive hits, according to NextGen Statistics. This is by far the highest in the league – teams against Buffalo only used this grouping 57 percent of the time. The Chargers used variations of this strategy in the first half, capping Mahomes for 112 yards and Los Angeles leading 14-10.

But things changed in the third quarter, when the Chargers’ all-round safety Derwin James wasn’t able to re-enter the game after his injury worsened. An offensive teammate, tight end Donald Parham, also suffered a horrific injury in the first quarter after a fourth-place pass in the last zone. As he descended, his head hit the ground and his body stiffened. The authorities paused the game for about 15 minutes while laying him on the stretcher and had him tested at the hospital. Officials said his condition is stable.

“Every moment you see this live and is close to it impacts you,” Staley said of continuing to coach while managing his emotions after injury. “At the same time, we’re trying to play for him the rest of the way. That’s what our guys did tonight, they risked it and played whale games for him. I hope he’s proud of it.”

Two games in particular ruined Los Angeles—Mahomes’ 32-yard scramble in the fourth quarter and Kelce’s 69-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter. These moments led directly to goals, with the fourth-quarter challenge arranging a 7-yard field goal for Kelce, making the score 28-28. Kelce finished with 191 yards and two touchdowns, one rebound after scoring a goal in his previous four games.

Throwing 410 yards, Mahomes tied Hill with a 40-yard pass in the third quarter, but failed to score a possible goal against Mecole Hardman. But he later found Hill on a 1-yard touchdown, who finished with 148 receiving yards.



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