The Chiefs are looking to keep their season alive, but the Chargers are hot on their tails.
Kansas City has a 13-10 lead over Los Angeles at halftime.
The Chargers got in the end zone with a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith with five seconds left in the second quarter. That was set up by a strong kick return to the 40-yard line after a Chiefs field goal.
Herbert had previously connected with receiver Tre’ Harris for a 37-yard gain down the left side to put the Chargers in scoring position.
Playing his second game after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left hand, Herbert is 10-of-16 for 103 yards with a touchdown and interception so far.
On the other side, quarterback Patrick Mahomes opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run to put the Chiefs up 7-0 at the end of their opening possession.
Kansas City had a golden opportunity to put up more points after a big-man interception by defensive end Ashton Gillotte deep in Los Angeles territory. But with an incomplete pass on third-and-goal, the club had to settle for a field goal.
Harrison Butker also hit one from 47 yards late in the first half to give the Chiefs 13 points.
Mahomes is 9-of-15 for 94 yards. Rashee Rice leads with five catches for 39 yards.
The Chargers will have a chance to double up, as they will receiver the second-half kickoff.
Chiefs Clips
The Chiefs will have to play the rest of Sunday’s game without one of their offensive weapons.
Receiver Xavier Worthy has been placed in concussion protocol, the team announced.
Worthy went down on an incomplete pass late in the first quarter. Reporters on the scene noted he went to the medical tent after walking off the field under his own power.
It was Worthy’s first target of the game.
Worthy entered the game with 38 catches for 456 yards with one touchdown in 11 contests this season.
UPDATE 2:15 p.m. ET: Worthy has cleared his concussion protocol check and has returned to the game late in the second quarter.
The Chiefs are looking to keep their season alive and Patrick Mahomes looked like he was in playoff mode for the team’s first drive.
Mahomes ran in a 12-yard touchdown to give the club an early 7-0 lead.
Mahomes was 3-of-3 for 32 yards on the possession, capping the opening drive with his 12-yard run.
On the club’s lone third down of the drive, Mahomes hit tight end Travis Kelce for a 17-yard gain to move the chains.
The Chiefs also had a scare with one of their offensive linemen. Right tackle Jaylon Moore went down on the second play from scrimmage when Chargers safety Derwin James went low and upended him to try to stave off a block. James was properly assessed a 15-yard penalty for a low block on the play. Moore was able to come back in the game on the same drive after being looked at on the sideline.
Moore is starting for the injured Jawaan Taylor.
It’s 16 degrees in Kansas City. And the field is responding accordingly.
Appearing on NFL Network’s GameDay Morning, Chargers radio analyst (and NFLN draft expert) Daniel Jeremiah said that the field at Arrowhead Stadium is “concrete” and “completely solid.”
In 2016, the Chiefs installed a $2.2 million heating system under the field.
Ten days ago, the NFL held a media conference call regarding playing surfaces, with commentary about acceptable hardness of the surface and other topics. If Jeremiah’s assessment of the field is accurate, it would be interesting to know whether the field passed. (Three years ago, a late-season Panthers game resulted in a grievance over the hardness of the field.)
Then again, what would happen if it didn’t? Would they send everyone home and say “come back tomorrow”? That’s the biggest flaw in the entire process. There’s no effective way to cancel a game and make it up — unless the visiting team sticks around until the next day.
The Bills will be missing a key defensive piece as they try to keep the Patriots from clinching the AFC East in New England on Sunday.
Cornerback Christian Benford is inactive for the game. Benford was added to the injury report on Thursday with a toe issue and he missed practice on Friday before being listed as questionable.
Benford had a big hand in each of the Bills’ last two wins. He returned a fumble for a touchdown and had an interception to help them beat the Steelers in Week 13 and he returned an interception for the go-ahead score against the Bengals in the fourth quarter last Sunday.
Bills at Patriots
Bills: CB Christian Benford, LB Terrel Bernard, WR Gabe Davis, S Darnell Savage, OL Tylan Grable, DT Phidarian Mathis, OL Chase Lundt
Patriots: LB Bradyn Swinson, OL Marcus Bryant, DT Eric Gregory, TE C.J. Dippre, WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito
Ravens at Bengals
Ravens: WR Rashod Bateman, CB Keyon Martin, OL Joseph Noteboom, DT Aeneas Peebles, QB Cooper Rush
Bengals: WR Tee Higgins, QB Jake Browning, S PJ Jules, DT Jordan Jefferson
Jets at Jaguars
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, QB Justin Fields, WR Tyler Johnson, EDGE Braiden McGregor, DL Mazi Smith, TE Mason Taylor, LB Kiki Mauigoa
Jaguars: LB Yasir Abdullah, OL Walker Little, TE Hunter Long, DL Emmanuel Ogbah, DL Austin Johnson
Chargers at Chiefs
Chargers: WR Quentin Johnston, S Elijah Molden, WR Derius Davis, CB Nikko Reed, LB Kyle Kennard, OL Trey Pipkins, WR Dalevon Campbell
Chiefs: CB Trent McDuffie, WR Hollywood Brown, OT Jawaan Taylor, TE Jared Wiley, G Trey Smith, RB Elijah Mitchell, DT Zacch Pickens
Cardinals at Texans
Cardinals: CB Max Melton, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., S Jalen Thompson, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, OL Evan Brown, OT Paris Johnson, WR Xavier Weaver
Texans: OL Jarrett Kingston, WR Braxton Berrios, RB Nick Chubb, QB Graham Mertz, CB Ameer Speed, LB E.J. Speed, DE Solomon Byrd
Browns at Bears
Browns: CB Denzel Ward, RB Dylan Sampson, G Zak Zinter, G Wyatt Teller, T Jack Conklin, TE David Njoku, DT Adin Huntington
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, RB Travis Homer, WR Jahdae Walker, LB Ruben Hyppolite, DE Dominique Robinson, DT Jonathan Ford
Commanders at Giants
Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels, DE Drake Jackson, OL George Fant, CB Jonathan Jones, OL Trenton Scott, RB Chris Rodriguez
Giants: EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, WR Ryan Miller, P Jamie Gillan, OL James Hudson, WR Gunner Olszewski, DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches, QB Russell Wilson
Raiders at Eagles
Raiders: QB Geno Smith, CB Greedy Vance, RB Zamir White, OL Jordan Meredith, TE Ian Thomas, WR Alex Bachman, DL Leki Fotu
Eagles: LB Josh Uche, QB Sam Howell, CB Mac McWilliams, RB A.J. Dillon, OT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter
The Chargers may be missing one of their key receivers on Sunday when they play the Chiefs.
Receiver Quentin Johnston is one of two players questionable for the contest.
Johnston was added to the injury report on Friday as a limited participant in practice with a groin issue.
In his third season, Johnston has caught 42 passes for 533 yards with seven touchdowns in 12 games.
Linebacker Troy Dye (hip) is also questionable for the contest after he was limited on Friday. He did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
Not that there was much doubt regarding his availability after his performance on Monday night, but quarterback Justin Herbert (left hand) is off the injury report and is set to play. Herbert was listed as limited for all three days of practice.
Receiver Ladd McConkey (foot) is also off the report and set to play after three limited practices this week.
Receiver Derius Davis (ankle) has been ruled out.
Defensive back Elijah Molden (hamstring) and offensive lineman Trey Pipkins (ankle) have both been ruled out.
The Chiefs will not have one of their top receivers on Sunday.
Head coach Andy Reid told reporters in his Friday press conference that Brown will be out for the Week 15 matchup with the Chargers due to a personal matter.
Brown has recorded 42 receptions for 494 yards with five touchdowns in 13 games this season, his second with Kansas City.
Additionally, offensive linemen Wanya Morris, Trey Smith, and Jawaan Taylor all did not practice on Friday. All three have been ruled out. While Smith was able to practice earlier in the week, he was downgraded to limited on Thursday before sitting out on Friday.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee) is also questionable for the contest.
While quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) was on the injury report, he was a full participant all week and is expected to play.
When the Chiefs opened the season against the Chargers in Week One in Brazil, Kansas City was favored by three points, but lost 27-21. That began a season-long trend for the Chiefs of losing games they were favored to win.
So far this season the Chiefs have lost six games they’ve been favored in, the most such losses of any team in the NFL. Even though the Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams, the point spread has still favored them in 11 of their 13 games so far this season.
Perhaps it should be no surprise, then that the Chiefs are favored against the Chargers again on Sunday. Even though the Chiefs are 6-7 and the Chargers are 9-4, the Chiefs are 5.5-point favorites in Kansas City.
The Chiefs are 5-6 straight-up when favored this season.
The 11-2 Patriots and 11-2 Broncos are tied for the best record in the NFL. They’ve each won 10 games in a row.
And they’re both underdogs at home in Week 15.
The Patriots, who can clinch the AFC East by completing the sweep of the Bills, are 1.5-point underdogs against Buffalo. Coach Mike Vrabel undoubtedly will find a way to use that to poke and prod his players — even if the Bills had nothing to do with the setting of the line.
Ditto for the Broncos. They’re 2.5-point underdogs at home against the Packers. That one is a bit more defensible, since the Broncos have played plenty of games against overmatched foes, with very few truly convincing wins. (Still, coach Sean Payton likely will have a thing or two to say to his players about the betting line.)
The spreads are driven in part by wagering patterns. Bettors still don’t believe in the Patriots and Broncos the way they could, or perhaps should.
In contrast, the gamblers continue to cling to the idea that the 6-7 Chiefs, who are 5.5-point favorites against the 9-4 Chargers, will emerge from their current funk.
However it goes, it adds a little spice to the 15th weekend of regular-season football, with all three games having postseason significance to both teams.
After last week’s loss to the Texans, the Chiefs’ chances of making the postseason are low.
They’re technically not out of it yet — though they could be eliminated from postseason contention in several different scenarios at the end of Week 15.
But with the Chiefs having lost four of their last five games to fall to 6-7 on the season, the first thing quarterback Patrick Mahomes wants is just to get back in the win column. Beyond that, he told reporters on Wednesday that he doesn’t need much to motivate him.
“I always want to win, so it’s not like I have to draw too far,” Mahomes said in his press conference, “but when I look at it now, I don’t know what the percentages are but I know they’re not high and I think it’d be special if we get to the playoffs and can make a run. So why not give ourselves a chance to do that? And we have to start by winning a football game, so that’s what we’ll start at.”
Mahomes noted that the culture the Chiefs have built over this extended run is something they’ll lean on in the coming weeks.
“We’re in an unprecedented territory, someplace that we haven’t been since I’ve been here,” Mahomes said in his Wednesday press conference, via transcript from the team. “I think you lean on the guys that have battled through adversity and came out better on the other side. That’s Chris [Jones], Trav [Kelce], all of these guys that have won championships.
“It hasn’t always been pretty, but it’ll really test us to see what type of character we are and I think we got the guys in the room to do it.”
