The Kansas City Chiefs earned a huge win over the San Diego Chargers, taking down their AFC West rival on a late field goal by Cairo Santos
The Kansas City Chiefs used a late field goal by Cairo Santos to get back to .500 with a huge 23-20 win over one of their AFC West rivals, the San Diego Chargers, in another fantastic game on Sunday’s NFL slate at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Alex Smith completed 19-of-28 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown while Jamal Charles became the Chiefs’ all-time leading rusher. He finished with 95 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Philip Rivers was 17-of-31 for 205 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Chargers.
The Chargers struck first late in the first quarter when Rivers finished off a five-play, 61-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown toss to John Phillips. The Chiefs answered with a six-play, 66-yard drive. Charles scored from 16 yards out to tie the game.
After a Chargers’ three-and-out, the Chiefs put together another nice drive, this time marching 56 yards in 14 plays, taking 9:31 off of the clock. However, they had to settle for a field goal, making it 10-7.
Each teem exchanged stops again and the Chargers got the ball back on their own 20 with 55 seconds to go. Rivers quickly hit passes of seven, seven and 12. Then, he found Antonio Gates for a 27-yard touchdown. The ball was tipped but Gates made a fantastic play to score. The Chargers led 14-10 at the break.
The Chiefs had an impressive opening drive in the second half but again had to settle for a field goal, this time a 40-yarder from Cairo Santos. After another Chargers’ punt, the Chiefs had another lengthy drive, taking 7:31 off of the clock. This time they finished things off with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Anthony Sherman.
The Chargers got down to the six on the following drive but couldn’t finish things off, settling for a 24-yard Nick Novak field goal. The Chargers were able to get a stop on the following possession. They took over at their 12 and got to the Chiefs’ 30 before being stopped on third down. Novak hit a 48-yard field goal to tie things at 20.
The Chiefs took over on their own eight-yard line with just 1:57 to go. A Smith scramble and face mask quickly got them to the 32. Smith then hit Dwayne Bowe and Travis Kelce, putting the Chiefs at the 30-yard line. After two incompletions, Santos hit a career-long 48-yarder to take the lead with 21 seconds left.
Rivers’ final pass was intercepted by Kurt Coleman, sealing a Chiefs’ victory.
The Chiefs will return home to host the St. Louis Rams while the Chargers will be in Mile High Stadium to take on the Denver Broncos Thursday night.