<table> </table> The worst thing about the most embarrassing loss in the Carl Peterson era &#8212; a 22-21 miracle defeat to San Diego on Sunday &#8212; is the Chargers had no interest in winning it.</p><p>They came to Kansas City on Friday intent on partying and showing up at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon because their preflight-home itinerary required it. They kicked it at Bazooka&#8217;s, Power &amp; Light and the Plaza before clearing their heads just in time to erase an 18-point second-half deficit and finish the Chiefs with two touchdowns in the final 73 seconds.</p><p>Gone in 73 seconds.</p><p>That should be on Carl Peterson&#8217;s and Herm Edwards&#8217; Kansas City tombstones. It took fewer than 2 minutes to indisputably unmask the folly of their rebuilding effort.</p><p>Trailing 21-10 in the final minutes, Philip Rivers hit Malcom Floyd with a 4-yard TD pass, the Chargers recovered Dwayne Bowe&#8217;s drop of an onside kick, Rivers and receiver Vincent Jackson exploited corner Patrick Surtain&#8217;s poor decision-making in cover 4, and then Rivers found Jackson for the game-winner.</p><p>You had to see the finish to really believe it. It was stunning in its decisiveness and quickness. But you could see it building all afternoon. The Chiefs threw away every opportunity to put the game away.</p><p>San Diego&#8217;s uninterest was so obvious that the Chiefs easily could&#8217;ve led 28-3 at halftime. It was 14-3 instead.</p><p>Backup Quarterback of the Future Tyler Thigpen tossed a ridiculous, first-and-goal-at-the-5 interception when he tried to force the ball into a triple-covered Tony Gonzalez. Thigpen and Gonzalez have a Tony Romo-Jason Witten love affair. They only have eyes for each other. It hurt the Chiefs on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;The game should&#8217;ve never been close,&#8221; Surtain accurately observed. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know how to finish people. We make boneheaded plays.&#8221;</p><p>No doubt. Surtain tried to bait Rivers into throwing underneath on the long pass to Jackson that set up the game-winning TD pass. Surtain didn&#8217;t get deep because he thought he could tackle tight end Antonio Gates while he was inbounds. Rivers lofted a balloon over Surtain&#8217;s head. Chiefs safety Jarrad Page tried to adjust and get over. He didn&#8217;t make it. The Chargers picked up 42 yards.</p><p>&#8220;(Jackson) caught the ball,&#8221; Page said.</p><p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t a rookie over there. I&#8217;ll leave it at that,&#8221; Edwards said.</p><p>&#8220;I could&#8217;ve gotten a little deeper,&#8221; Surtain acknowledged.</p><p>The Chiefs had several opportunities to extend offensive drives by going for it on fourth and 1. Edwards chose to punt and play defense on each occasion.</p><p>&#8220;The defense was playing halfway decent until about the last 2 minutes of the football game,&#8221; Edwards explained. &#8220;When you have a two-score lead, you say, &#8216;Why should I give these guys, if we don&#8217;t make it, the ball on the 40-yard line?&#8217; &#8221;</p><p>I don&#8217;t have a problem with the fourth-down strategy. That&#8217;s nitpicking.</p><p>Bowe dropping the onside kick is the smoking gun in this fiasco. He&#8217;s wrapping up a miserable sophomore season and further eroding public trust in Edwards&#8217; and Bill Kuharich&#8217;s ability to draft the right prospects.</p><p>Bowe is supposed to be KC&#8217;s No. 1 receiver. From the outset of the season, when he tried to catch critical passes in a close loss to the Patriots, Bowe has been an unreliable, inconsistent No. 1 target. He&#8217;ll tease with the spectacular and crush you by dropping the routine play.