Chargers 29, Chiefs 28: Insta-reaction off a brutal loss that felt like a playoff defeat
This was essentially the worst playoff nightmare of Chiefs fans laid out in a nationally televised standalone regular season game:
The Chiefs’ offense stalls. A lead is blown. The defense caves.
All that was missing was like three missed field goals, or a devastating injury.
The Chiefs lost to the Chargers 29-28 at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night, the final points coming with 4 seconds left on a two-point conversion. It was the first time the Chiefs trailed.
It was, basically, a familiar postseason collapse occurring in the regular season: a 14-point lead with 5 minutes left the fourth quarter gone because the defense couldn’t get a stop and the offense couldn’t move the ball.
All of the Chiefs’ flaws were here. They could not stop the run. They could not get basic first downs when they needed them. They could not protect Patrick Mahomes.
They shrunk in the largest moment, and how many times have we seen that before?
A win would have clinched the AFC West, and all but clinched homefield advantage throughout the postseason. Instead, they have work to do. A lot of work. Hard work, starting a week from Sunday with a game at Seattle. This was an inconvenient moment for the Chiefs’ worst game of the season.
The difference between this and the familiar postseason collapses is obvious, and encouraging: This is not the end. The Chiefs still control everything in their path. Win twice, and they maintain homefield advantage, no matter what the Chargers or Patriots do.
The process of getting to that point is complicated and precarious, and this franchise has not earned the benefit of the doubt. The defense must improve, or the offense must be perfect. Those are the stakes.
If it doesn’t happen, we just saw what we’ll see next month.
We saw Eric Berry’s best and also his rust. He was generally energetic, loud, and a constant presence. He played a lot of single high coverage, and also closer to the line of scrimmage.
His best play may have come in the second quarter, on first and goal from the 4. Justin Jackson took the handoff, and may have had a hold around the edge, but took a split second too long to get there. Berry cam flying in like a missile, making the stop.
The rust may have showed up later in the second quarter, when Tyrell Williams got behind coverage on the left side. Philip Rivers threw a perfectly placed but looping pass. Maybe the play was simply too good, but it looked like Berry was a step slow getting there. The gain was 26 yards.
Berry didn’t play much if at all in the second half, and was on the sideline in a stocking cap on the Chargers’ last drive. One convenience of debuting him in this game is an extra three days of rest before the next one, at Seattle on Dec. 23. Here’s a guess: he’ll be day-to-day.
I’m not sure exactly how to describe Patrick Mahomes’ first touchdown pass. The play call was a sprint out, but the first read was covered which meant Mahomes drifting to his right, waiting for something to develop. Chargers safety Adrian Phillips was sitting in the end zone, playing the pass, but saw a lane and sprinted forward.
Mahomes faked like he was throwing out of bounds, which may or may not have been intentional, and may or may not have caused Phillips to hesitate. Either way, Phillips wrapped and arm around Mahomes, who shook the pressure and casually threw a sidearm ball over a jumping linebacker and into Demarcus Robinson’s hands.
It was, conservatively, a top 3 play by any quarterback in Chiefs history before week 17 of last year. It was, generously, a top 20 play by Mahomes.
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 10:52 PM.