Kansas City improves to 7-4 following a 24-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) and it’s thanks to the best defensive performance the Chiefs have had all season.
It begins with Kansas City’s pass rushers that did an amazing job making Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers uncomfortable in the pocket, sacking him twice.
To say the least, Rivers did not have his best game and it benefitted Kansas City greatly. Rivers completed just over 50 percent of his throws for 353 yards, a 7-yard touchdown to Keenan Allen and the highlight for the Chiefs ‘D’, four interceptions, one of which helped lead to seven points on the board for Kansas City.
Safety Tyrann Mathieu returned the pick 35 yards the other way to set Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense up for the 6-yard score by LeSean McCoy on the following play.
Defensive end Frank Clark had a big night with five tackles (2 solo), a tackle for a loss, and a sack. Clark also played a part in the defense’s first takeaway of the game.
In the first quarter, Clark was able to come off the edge in time to get a hand on River’s throwing arm just as the ball was being thrown. That caused the ball to flutter into the arm of defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi for the interception.
After the game, Clark spoke about the defense’s performance, “We showed an attitude,” Clark said. “We’re trying to build this identity. I want [us] to be selfish and make every play that comes to us,” he said. “Defend your gap and make the play. If you keep on developing that attitude, you’re going to develop into a winner,” Clark explained.
A key matchup in this game was how Kansas City was going to defend against the dynamic running backs the Chargers have and if they could stop the passes out of the backfield, something the Chiefs have struggled against all season.
Stopping the run was an emphasis going into this game after last week’s performance against the Titans.
While running back Austin Ekeler did have eight receptions for 108 yards, the Chiefs held the Chargers run game to just 96 yards on 20 carries on the ground. L.A. also made it into the red zone on four occasions and Kansas City held them to field goals.
There was also an emphasis to do a better job closing game out and Kansas City’s defensive unit made good on that this week. The last two offensive drives for Los Angeles ended in Kansas City defensive backs picking Rivers off to preserve a 24-17 victory.
The first was on a deep pass intended for Chargers receiver Andre Patton but it instead became cornerback Rashad Fenton’s first career interception.
On the Chargers’ final offensive drive in the closing minute, Rivers drove his team down to the 14-yard line of Kansas City on 11 plays. Needing touchdown to tie the game and force overtime with just 25 seconds left on the clock, Rivers floats one intended for Austin Ekeler at the front right pylon of the endzone and the pass is picked off by Daniel Sorensen to seal to victory for Kansas City and put the hammer down on the Chargers.
After the game, Head Coach Andy Reid spoke highly of his defense for stepping up and closing the game out.
“I was really proud of our defense for what they did today,” Reid said. “I think Frank Clark probably jumps out at you for the job that he did, he had a heck of a game, [and] four takeaways by the guys that intercepted the football and the guys that helped create the turnovers, I was proud of the job they did there,” he said.
Safety Tyrann Mathieu also spoke about what their strong defensive performance means for them going forward.
“It’s a confidence boost for us,” Mathieu said. “Especially how we finished the game last week and understanding the kind of football we need to play going forward [and] we’ve got Oakland, who’s hot right now, and then New England, so we need to understand our own momentum and take advantage of it and I thought tonight was beautiful,” he explained.
The Chiefs finally get their bye week which they’ll have the chance to recuperate after everything they’ve been through this season and get ready for the playoff push in December.
Kansas City came out limping a little on offense following the win. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill reportedly strained his hamstring which kept him out of the game last night but is considered to be minor. Damien Williams reportedly bruised his ribs, safety Jordan Lucus hurt his shoulder and LeSean McCoy is reportedly under concussion protocol.
Since the Chiefs are heading into the bye week, it means an injury update won’t be released until the team returns on Monday, November 25 leading up to the game against the Oakland Raiders on December 1.
