KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid doesn’t have to schedule a stress check anytime quickly. He appears to get one each week.
The Kansas City Chiefs coach noticed his third-string kicker doink a 31-yard subject purpose off the left upright and thru for a victory that secured the Chiefs’ ninth straight AFC West title.
It was the Chiefs’ fifteenth straight win in a one-score recreation over the past two seasons.
Patrick Mahomes led the two-time defending Super Bowl champions (12-1) on a clock-killing 4 1/2-minute drive to arrange Matthew Wright’s fourth subject purpose. The ball clanged off the upright within the newest slim escape for Kansas City, which is 10-0 this season in one-score video games.
The Chiefs have now had three totally different kickers make a game-winning subject purpose as time expired this season. No different crew in NFL historical past has had a couple of kicker accomplish that in a single season.
After securing a primary down inside the 2-minute warning, each Mahomes and Reid had been content material with operating out the clock for the potential recreation winner, moderately than attempting to attain a landing and depart time on the clock for Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
“I trusted Matthew, so I used to be good with the place we had been,” Reid mentioned. “Percentages are fairly excessive. I do know we gained a recreation in that very same state of affairs on the alternative finish, so I get it, however he’s a stable gamer, so I wasn’t too anxious about it.”
Wright mentioned he wasn’t excited about the sport state of affairs, as an alternative specializing in what he needed to do if it got here all the way down to his proper leg. As the ball headed towards the upright and began drifting left, Wright mentioned his thought wasn’t good.
“It’s not a superb one,” he mentioned. “I need it to only go proper down the center, clearly.”
Kansas City’s 9 straight division titles are two wanting the New England Patriots’ NFL file of 11.
The Chiefs led 13-0 at halftime after the Chargers (8-5) punted on their first 5 possessions, however LA wakened within the second half, scoring on every of its three drives. Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard subject purpose put the Chargers forward 17-16 with 4:35 left.
“We simply needed to settle in,” mentioned Herbert, who was 21 of 30 for 213 yards and a TD. “We didn’t make sufficient performs within the first half and we didn’t execute the best way we wished to. Pass recreation, run recreation, we weren’t transferring the ball properly. That’s on us and I reward the blokes for staying in there, staying affected person and making performs within the second half.”
Mahomes then went to work, hitting Xavier Worthy for 14 yards on third-and-10 and scrambling for an additional first down. After the two-minute warning, Mahomes scrambled, dodged a would-be sort out and lobbed a throw to a kneeling Travis Kelce that allowed the Chiefs to run the clock all the way down to zero.
“I went via my reads,” Mahomes mentioned. “As I used to be able to run, I simply noticed 87 simply sitting proper there in the midst of the sector, open. So I fired it to him.”
Mahomes says he’s not shocked that Kelce stepped up within the clutch.
“He means the world to me,” he mentioned. “Without getting like emotional, he’s a man that has actually form of made me who I’m in my profession. (He’s a) true chief on the soccer subject. He’s somebody that I can simply go to at any second, and he’s going to make a giant play occur, and as he’s performed all through his profession.”
Mahomes was sacked 3 times and has taken 13 sacks over the previous three video games, probably the most of any three-game stretch in his profession.
The Chargers opened the second half with a 13-play, 79-yard drive that concluded with Gus Edwards’ 3-yard landing run. Following a Chiefs punt, the Chargers then went 74 yards on 4 performs, aided by 39-yard cross interference penalty on Justin Reid, to take a 14-13 lead. Herbert discovered Quentin Johnson for a 4-yard landing, the Chargers’ first TD cross in 13 quarters.
The Chiefs responded with Wright’s third subject purpose, this one from 50 yards after an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty in opposition to Trey Smith pushed Kansas City again.
The Chiefs settled for Wright’s 47-yard subject purpose on their opening drive, throughout which Mahomes handed Dan Marino for probably the most passing yards within the first eight years of a profession.
Late within the second quarter, Herbert was hit by Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton, forcing him to overlook a play and resulting in the Chargers’ fifth punt. The Chiefs responded with a 9-play, 77-yard drive that ended with DeAndre Hopkins’ TD catch.
Kansas City’s halftime lead was its largest of the season and it shut out an opponent within the first half for the primary time.
Receiving royalty
Kelce completed with 45 yards receiving and has 12,010 in his profession, trailing solely Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten amongst tight ends. He is the quickest to succeed in 12,000 yards amongst tight ends.
Injuries
Herbert missed just one play after the hit by Bolton after trainers checked out his left leg. Taylor Heinicke changed him. … TE Will Dissly left the sport with a proper shoulder harm within the third quarter. … WR Jalen Reagor was harm within the third quarter.
Chiefs T DJ Humphries left within the fourth quarter with a hamstring harm.
Up subsequent
Chargers: Host Tampa Bay subsequent Sunday.
Chiefs: At Cleveland subsequent Sunday.
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