After playing the entire postseason coming from behind, including the Super Bowl, and finding ways to win, the Kansas City Chiefs dug into their old bag of tricks and found, yet, another way to overcome a double-digit deficit.
Los Angeles Chargers seemed to have all the answers against Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. They even had a secret weapon nobody knew about in rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, who got the start after Tyrod Taylor reaggravated an old rib injury during warm-ups and couldn’t play.
Herbert threw 22-of-33 for 311 yards, a touchdown, and a pick in his NFL debut and his four-yard score on the ground began the offensive assault on Kansas City’s defense to start the first half.
After a slow start in the first quarter, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was able to answer in the second with a ten-play drive that was capped off by a 10-yard pass to Travis Kelce for the score. Unfortunately, a penalty on Kansas City forced a retry on the PAT, and Harrison Butker’s kick was blocked to keep the Chargers ahead 7-6.
Eleven plays later, Herbert countered Kansas City’s scoring drive with one of his own to extend the Charger lead, 14-6, going into halftime with a 14-yard bomb to Jalen Guyton.
At the start of the second half, the Chiefs offensive-line struggled to adjust to the Chargers pass rush and give Mahomes the time he needed to make a play. After forcing Kansas City to go five plays and out, the Chargers went on a 12-play, 57-yard drive but were forced to kick a field goal to go up 17-6 with eight minutes in the third quarter.
Down by two scores, the Chiefs were finally able to answer as kicker Harrison Butker drilled a career-high 58-yard field goal through the uprights to take the deficit down to eight points.
On the following drive, Kansas City’s defense was able to capitalize off a mistake by Justin Herbert, who through a deep pass intended for Keenan Allen but was intercepted by rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to get the ball back for Kansas City’s offense.
Six plays later, Mahomes and company made good on the interception with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill to tie the game at 17 a piece going into the fourth quarter.
Under thirteen minutes left in the fourth, the Chargers offense did their best to keep the ball for as long as possible and took a slow, 17-play drive that took over ten minutes off the game clock. Thanks to Kansas City’s defense, Los Angeles was forced to kick a 23-yard field goal and go up by three with over two minutes left in regulation.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, two and a half minutes was all Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense needed to go down the field and force overtime before time expired.
The Chargers got the ball first to start the fifth period, but quickly went three and out against Kansas City’s defense. The following thirteen plays displayed Patrick Mahomes converting two third downs with his legs and lead the Chiefs 39 yards down to the Chargers 40-yard line to set up Harrison Butker to drill his second 58-yard field goal to keep the Chiefs perfect for the 2020 season.
After falling behind 11 points, the Chiefs head home with a 2-0 record following a 23-20 overtime thriller over the rival Chargers. Mahomes leaves L.A. undefeated in September after throwing for 302 yards on 27-of-47 passes and two touchdowns.
Kansas City will now gameplan for a Monday night clash in Baltimore against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Week 3.
