Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes to Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs missed several of their regular receivers to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 30-27 on Sunday night.
If certain meetings of the ” Sunday Night Football didn’t live up to expectations, it turned out to be entertaining, with the match featuring six point guard changes.
Conceding a touchdown that put the Chargers in command 27-23 with less than two minutes left in the game, Mahomes orchestrated the winning streak without waiting.
After an 11-yard run brought his club into the paying zone, the Chiefs’ star quarterback spotted Kelce on 17 yards for his third major of the matchup.
The winning offensive streak, as a whole, took only six plays and 75 seconds to cross the necessary 75 yards.
Justin Herbert and his attack regained control of the ball with 31 seconds on the clock, but the first pass he fired was intercepted by Nick Bolton.
Kansas City, which was the fourth consecutive win, now has an 8-2 record, the best in the American association.
The leaders of the West division of the American however had to compose without Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster, their two best spaced wingers.
Kelce from start to finish
Unsurprisingly under the circumstances, Mahomes turned to the favorite target regularly, his tight end sporting the No. 87.
Andy Reid’s offense also relied on running back Isiah Pacheco, who rushed for 107 yards after Clyde Edwards-Helaire left the game with an injury in the first quarter.
Kelce, who already had eight majors on his record before the matchup, edged out Davante Adams for first place in the NFL, who also reached the 10 touchdown mark in that 11e activity week.
He became the first tight end since 1983 to achieve two three-touchdown performances in one schedule.
Los Angeles could count on the presence in the formation of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, who were both absent during the defeat in San Francisco on November 13.
If Justin Herbert managed to join Allen repeatedly, it was less easy in the case of Williams.
Allen, who was taking only his third game this season, had five catches for 94 yards, including one for 46 yards, but was guilty of a fumble recovered by Kansas City in the fourth quarter.
Williams was only targeted once for a 15-yard gain before leaving the duel with an ankle injury.
Herbert nevertheless accumulated 280 yards by air, and 17 others by running. He took a total of five quarterback sacks for 30-yard losses.
Sophomore wide receiver Joshua Palmer was a standout in the aerial game, with 106 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions.
This meeting marked quite possibly the last chance of the Chargers (5-5) to maintain the hope of stealing the first place in the division from the Chiefs.
Palmer notably picked up the touchdown that put LA ahead by four points, just after the two-minute stoppage.
Austin Ekeler also scored a major for the Chargers, his seventh of the campaign by rush.
On September 15, at Arrowhead Stadium, during the second week of activities, the Chiefs also won by three points (27-24) over their great rivals.