The aftermath of Sunday’s game in Kansas City centered on Patrick Mahomes’ torn ACL and the Chiefs being eliminated from the playoffs, but it was a significant moment for the Chargers as well.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s field goal with 38 seconds to play in the first half put the Chiefs up 13-3 and turned out to be the final points that the home team scored all day. The Chargers rallied for a touchdown with five seconds to go in the second quarter and then kicked a pair of field goals in the second half to pull out a 16-13 win that solidified their place in the playoff picture.
After the game, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said that he though the final 30 minutes represented the best half the team has played all season.
“It felt like we were going to have to play our best game and I really hoped that,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s website. “I hoped that we’d come and play our best. At halftime, that’s what we said, ‘Let’s go play our best half of football of the season.’ And our guys did. . . . To beat the other team, but beat the crowd . . . had some elements, got to beat the elements, too. It makes you feel like a man. Really proud of our team.”
The Chargers still have some work to do to ensure they continue playing beyond Week 18, but Sunday’s performance provided plenty of reasons to believe they will get the job done.
Chargers Clips
For the first time since 2014, the NFL postseason will not feature the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chargers eliminated their division rival from postseason contention with a 16-13 victory on a cold day in Kansas City.
To add injury to the insult, quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with an apparent left knee injury late in the fourth quarter on a drive where the Chiefs could have tied or gone ahead. Mahomes hyperextended his left knee as he was being hit and taken to the ground on a play that ended up not counting due to an offensive holding penalty.
Gardner Minshew came in and moved the chains. But he then threw an interception to Derwin James that ended the contest.
The Chiefs came out with a sense of urgency, scoring on their first drive with Mahomes’ 12-yard run. But the club could not score another touchdown and was shut out for the entire second half. Harrison Butker hit field goals of 27 and 47 yards in the second quarter to close out Kansas City’s scoring.
The Chargers also only got in the end zone once, doing it late in the first half. Justin Herbert connected with KeAndre Lambert-Smith with five seconds left in the second quarter to pull the Chiefs within three points at halftime.
Cameron Dicker then connected on field goals of 23 and 49 yards in the third quarter to put the Chargers ahead for good.
The Chiefs had a shot at scoring early in the fourth quarter, getting the ball down to the Los Angeles 17. But Mahomes threw an interception to linebacker Daiyan Henley while looking for Kareem Hunt deep down the right side.
Kansas City’s loss ends a remarkable run for the club, which had only missed the postseason once in Andy Reid’s tenure. With Patrick Mahomes as starting quarterback since 2018, the Chiefs had previously finished no worse than overtime of the AFC Championship Game over the last seven seasons.
Now, the Chiefs will enter the offseason needing to answer a lot of questions moving forward.
With the win, the Chargers are now 10-4 on the season and will be on the road to face the Cowboys in Week 16.
At 6-8, Kansas City will be on the road to face the Titans and may not have Mahomes the rest of the way.
The Chiefs have been eliminated from playoff contention.
They also may be dealing with a significant knee injury to their quarterback.
Patrick Mahomes went down with an apparent left knee injury after throwing a pass that was incomplete with two minutes left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s eventual loss to the Chargers. The play eventually did not count because of an offensive holding penalty.
Mahomes was rolling to his left when he was brought down by Da’Shawn Hand. Mahomes appeared to hyperextend his left knee as he was trying to get the ball away.
While Mahomes has not missed any practice or playing time, he has been dealing with a left knee injury and has been on the injury report with it. CBS broadcasters Kevin Harlan and Trent Green noted that Mahomes’ knee was far from healthy entering the contest.
Mahomes stayed down on the field for a while before he was helped to the locker room with trainer assistance. The CBS broadcast showed Mahomes not putting much weight on his left leg as he was headed for further evaluation.
Gardner Minshew came in to replace Mahomes and threw an interception to end the Chiefs’ threat to tie the game.
Chargers safety Tony Jefferson has been ejected from the contest against the Chiefs in the fourth quarter.
Jefferson had been delivering hard hits throughout the contest against Kansas City. But on this particular play, he put a helmet-to-helmet blow on Tyquan Thornton.
Thornton was able to walk off the field with trainer assistance.
Jefferson also made an obscene gesture toward the crowd when exiting the field, for which he may be fined.
While that penalty put the Chiefs in good field position, Patrick Mahomes threw an interception to linebacker Daiyan Henley deep in the red zone to keep Kansas City off the board.
The Chargers lead 16-13 early in the fourth quarter.
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.
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
Sherrone Moore’s dismissal as the University of Michigan’s head coach and his ensuing arrest were major stories around the football world this week.
Moore’s former boss in Ann Arbor weighed in on the news from Los Angeles on Friday. Jim Harbaugh hired Moore as Michigan’s tight ends coach in 2018 and promoted him to offensive coordinator before the team won the national championship in 2023. Moore filled in for Harbaugh as the interim head coach that year when Harbaugh was suspended as part of the school’s punishment for a sign-stealing scandal.
Harbaugh left for the Chargers after winning the title and Moore succeeded him as the permanent head coach.
“Still processing that like a lot of people, I’m sure,” Harbaugh said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN.com.
Michigan said Moore was fired on Wednesday after an internal investigation discovered evidence of an impermissible relationship with a staff member. Moore was detained by police later in the day and he was charged with third-degree home invasion, stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering.
