Halftime observations at Arrowhead: Chiefs up 14-7, Berry’s back, Mahomes is inhuman
This AFC West showdown lived up to the hype in the first half of Thursday night’s game. The Chiefs led the Chargers 14-7 at Arrowhead Stadium thanks to Kendall Fuller’s pick in the end zone with less than a minute to go in the first half. Here’s what we saw.
Berry’s back
Yeah, Eric Berry is back. He had an understated run out of the tunnel (he didn’t get an individual introduction), but he certainly made his presence known on the Chargers’ first drive. On the second play — and first pass attempt — Berry blitzed quarterback Philip Rivers. With Berry in his face, Rivers threw a pass to the middle of the field intended for Tyrell Williams. But cornerback Steven Nelson jumped in front of him and grabbed the ball. That gave the Chiefs the ball at midfield and set them up for a touchdown 10 plays later.
Berry nearly got a pick in his second drive, just about five yards away from a pass from Rivers to Antonio Gates on third-and-long. Berry came out for a third drive at the end of the first quarter, before leaving the field during the Chargers’ fourth drive. When he came out, Berry was leading the Chiefs with six total tackles.
Berry came back in with 1:07 left in the half after Kansas City took a timeout.
Patrick Mahomes is an alien
Guys, it’s time we face the facts. Patrick Mahomes is not of this earth. Do you need further evidence? Rewatch his first touchdown throw to Demarcus Robinson early in the first quarter. The play looked like it was dead. Mahomes literally stopped moving. And then, out of nothing, he found Robinson open in the end zone, even as a defender hung off of him attempting a sack. It took him a whole 6.17 seconds to make that touchdown pass happen. Insane.
Earlier in that drive, Mahomes scrambled out of another would-be sack, curled right, and found Damien Williams for a six-yard gain to convert the third-and-5.
With his first touchdown pass, Mahomes tied Dan Marino for seventh place in single-season touchdown passes with 44. Then, later in the first quarter, Mahomes found rookie Darrel Williams on the left side and connected with the rookie for his first career touchdown. Mahomes’ 45th touchdown puts him into a tie with Aaron Rodgers for sixth place in single-season touchdowns.
Whole lotta Williams
No Ware, no problem for the Chiefs in the first half. The Williams running back tandem of Damien and Darrel did it all for the Chiefs. Damien Williams got going early with a 22-yard run on the Chiefs’ first drive before grabbing Mahomes six-yard pass a couple plays later. In the Chiefs’ second drive, Damien Williams caught a screen pass from Mahomes and turned it into a 32-yard gain.
Darrel Williams, the rookie, scored his first career touchdown to cap that drive on an 11-yard touchdown reception, where he was sprung on the left side thanks to a well-timed block by center Mitch Morse.
It wasn’t just Kansas City Williamses that got in on the action in the first half. Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams got Rivers’ first TD pass of the night, going up to grab a fade throw over Steven Nelson. The 6-4 receiver stretched out over the 5-10 corner and just flat beat him. Sometimes it happens.
Sack city
Chris Jones kept up his insane sack streak in the first half of Thursday’s game, bringing Rivers down by his ankles for his 10th consecutive game with a sack. That ties an NFL record and gives Jones a team-best 12 1/2 sacks this season. He added another one later in the second quarter. Then he and Justin Houston combined to sack Rivers with 1:17 left in the first half, giving Jones sole possession of second place in single-season sacks ahead of Von Miller. He trails only Aaron Donald, who has 16 1/2.
Jones wasn’t the only Chief with a sack in the first half. Dee Ford recorded one in the first quarter to move his total to 11 1/2 on the season.
Who’s house? Fuller(‘s) house
Kendall Fuller made the play of the half, picking off Rivers in the corner of the end zone as he targeted Tyrell Williams. Fuller didn’t a foot down in the end zone, instead falling on his rear end. But the review kept the ball with the Chiefs, and the offense got another chance to make something happen with 54 seconds left in the game.
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 8:44 PM.