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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chargers had Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes contained until they didn’t. It was that simple, and it proved as costly as you might imagine as Mahomes marched the Chiefs to a game-winning field goal as time expired and a 19-17 victory Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes and the Chiefs converted not one, not two, but three third downs during a 47-yard drive that produced Matthew Wright’s 31-yard field goal. The final conversion, a 9-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce on third-and-7 at the Chargers’ 20-yard line was like a dagger to their heart.
Wright’s field goal was almost a foregone conclusion.
Almost, because his kick banked off the left goal post and through.
In the end, it was the Chargers’ seventh consecutive loss to the Chiefs, who clinched their ninth consecutive AFC West title with their 15th straight win in a one-score game over the last two seasons (10 this year). The Chargers (8-5) also lost for the 19th time in 22 games to Kansas City (12-1), a stretch of futility that has proved frustrating for the players who have lived through some if not all of it.
“We’ve got to be ready,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “As a defense, we want to be on the field, do you know what I mean? We want that challenge. I felt like we didn’t make the plays in the third and fourth quarters to get off the field. I know looking at the tape we’re going to be sick to our stomachs.”
Said outside linebacker Khalil Mack: “It’s a situation you dream of, to get that stop, a turnover, and win the game. It was just a lot of breakdowns. I’ve got to finish that play on that scramble (Mahomes’ pass to Kelce). I’ve got to get down and get the ball off him. There’s no excuses. It’s a high level of frustration, but you’ve got to use it.”
The Chargers end the regular season with games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6) and Denver Broncos (8-5) at SoFi Stadium and against the New England Patriots (3-10) and Las Vegas Raiders (2-11) on the road. So, their schedule eases someone in the home stretch.
If there was a lesson to be taken from Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, and there was, it was that the margin for victory against elite teams such as the two-time reigning Super Bowl champs is razor-thin. The Chargers paid a steep price for a sluggish offensive start and late defensive lapses.
“I think it just comes down to executing the plays we were put out there to do,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “Technique, tackling, I think that’s what it comes down to. Just finishing the game. We played a long game. We have to finish a long game. We’ve got to realize everybody’s in the NFL for a reason. We’re going against a good quarterback, a good team. It comes down to who’s making those plays in a critical moment. We’ve just got to finish. He’s a good quarterback. He’s getting paid what he’s paid for a reason.”
After a halting start that included punting on their first five possessions, the Chargers finally got rolling.
The Chargers rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit to take a 14-13 lead on Gus Edwards’ 3-yard touchdown run and Justin Herbert’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston on their first two possessions of the third quarter. It was the first time the Chargers were shut out in the first half this season.
Kansas City retook the lead 16-14 on Wright’s 50-yard field goal with 13:04 remaining in the game. The Chargers seized it back on Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard field goal with 4:35 left, capping a 14-play, 57-yard drive that took 8:29. It was the Chargers’ third score on three second-half possessions.
The Chargers accomplished nothing of value in the first half, trailing the Chiefs 13-0 by halftime. They couldn’t establish a productive running game and their passing game was out of sync from the start with top receiver Ladd McConkey sidelined by nagging knee and shoulder injuries.
In the second half, Herbert finally clicked with Johnston and Joshua Palmer. Herbert completed 21 of 30 passes for 213 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked three times. Johnston caught five passes for 48 yards and one touchdown. Palmer caught a team-leading six passes for 78 yards.
Mahomes finished 24 of 37 for 210 yards and the one TD for the Chiefs, who have won six games this season that were decided on the last play.
“I thought it was a football fight for four quarters,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “There was no quit. I love that about our football team. In the second half, we flipped the script. … This one hurts. We’ll lie down and bleed for a little while and then we’ll rise up again.”
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