Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr was stretchered off in the first quarter with a head injury after appearing to fall unconscious upon impact with the ground; the Chargers later announced that Parham is in a 'stable condition' and is being evaluated further at UCLA Harbor Medical Center
Friday 17 December 2021 08:06, UK
Patrick Mahomes threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce to clinch a thrilling 34-28 overtime win for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.
Mahomes finished the game 31 of 47 for 410 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception, while Kelce recorded a career-best 191 yards and two TDs on 10 receptions. Tyreek Hill also had a huge outing, hauling in 12 catches for 148 yards and one TD as Kansas City won a seventh straight.
The Chargers, meanwhile, will rue several missed opportunities to put their AFC West rivals away, as they turned the ball over on downs as many as three times in the game - twice in the first half from down near the goal line and once more deep into Kansas City territory on their first series of the second half - and also coughed up a fumble and an interception.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert completed 22 of his 38 passes for 236 yards, with two passing TDs and a rushing score as well as an early interception. Justin Jackson led a strong mix of Los Angeles rushers, gaining 86 of the team's 192 yards on the ground.
The Chargers held a slender one-point advantage going into the fourth quarter, before both teams scored two touchdowns apiece, one of which saw the Chiefs add on a two-point conversion to tie the game, sending it to overtime.
The last of those scores in regulation came with just over a minute remaining as Mahomes and Kelce connected from seven yards. With the Chargers then unable to set up any game-winning strike in the dying seconds, the game went to overtime and ultimately Kansas clinched victory as Mahomes and Kelce again combined in stunning style.
Chiefs
Chargers
The game opened in explosive fashion as Andre Roberts returned the opening kick-off 75 yards for the Chargers. But, when facing 4th-and-Goal from the Kansas City five-yard line, L.A. turned the ball over on downs for the first time - Parham suffering a nasty injury on the play, being carted off the field, after Herbert looked for him in the endzone.
Kansas City managed what the Chargers couldn't on their opening possession, as Michael Burton capped an 11 play, 95-yard drive with a seven-yard score to see the Chiefs into an early lead. They then stretched that to a 10-point advantage as Harrison Butker kicked his first of two field goals after Herbert was picked off.
The Chargers quarterback would make amends on their next two series', first rumbling into the endzone himself to get his team on the board and then picking out Jalen Guyton for a four-yard score to give them a 14-10 half-time lead.
And that advantage could have been even greater as, following Guyton's TD, Joey Bosa strip-sacked Mahomes to give Los Angeles great field position inside the final two minutes, only for the Chiefs defense to again come up with a crucial stop on fourth down on their goal line.
It was much of the same after the break. Butker first fired through a field goal to bring Kansas City back to within one of their opponents, before the Chargers again turned the ball over on downs - this time going for it on 4th-and-2 from the KC 28-yard line - and then Joshua Kelley lost a fumble when L.A. looked certain to score when camped once more on the Chiefs goal line.
Three plays later, the Chargers would have the ball back at the two-yard line as Mahomes threw a costly interception, and this time there would be no stopping the hosts as Austin Ekeler broke in for the touchdown.
The two teams traded scoring blows thereafter, with a 69-yard catch and run from Kelce first setting up a Mahomes-to-Hill one-yard score, with the Chiefs QB then finding Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21 apiece.
Herbert and Keenan Allen combined on the next series to again see the Chargers up by seven, but ultimately Kansas City, and more specifically Kelce, would have the final say, as his seven-yard score first took the game into an extra period and then he clinched a thrilling win for the Chiefs as he weaved his way through several L.A. defenders on a stunning 34-yard catch and run on the fifth play of overtime.
The Chiefs (10-4) are next in action on Boxing Day, hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6-1), while the Chargers (8-6) will look to get back to winning way with a trip to the Houston Texans (2-11) on the same day.
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