Injury-Ridden Chargers Fall to Chiefs Late, Drop to 2-2
For the second week in a row, the Chargers offense struggles to put points on the board as they fall to division rival Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 on a fourth quarter touchdown by running back Samaje Perine.
Austin Gage | Contributing Sports Writer
For the second week in a row, the Chargers offense struggles to put points on the board as they fall to division rival Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 on a fourth quarter touchdown by running back Samaje Perine.
Battling against one of the most dangerous teams in the league, the short-handed Chargers fell just short Sunday as they were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10. After a quick 2-0 start to the 2024 season, the Chargers have fallen back to Earth a bit with two straight losses.
For a Los Angeles defense that was missing star safety Derwin James Jr. via a one-game suspension and star linebacker Joey Bosa, stopping the Kansas City offense did not prove to be as great a challenge as previously thought. Thanks to a forced fumble on the Chiefs opening drive forced by linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu on undrafted rookie running back Carson Steele, who played his final season of college ball at UCLA, the Chargers jumped to a 7-0 midway through the first quarter thanks to a 7-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Justin Herbert to rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey. While the overall offensive day for the Chargers was dull, McConkey shined as a bright spot, finishing with 5 catches for 67 yards and the touchdown.
“It’s nothing but respect for the way he plays. He’s a stalwart out there, he’s one of those guys. He’s doing everything you could ask, including blocking. He’s just doing everything in his power,” Harbaugh said.
After the rookie’s touchdown catch, the Kansas City offense marched the offense out in a sudden 7-0 hole after a drive they took into Los Angeles territory. However, the turnover woes, which have been an uncharacteristic problem for the Chiefs this season, struck again on the first play of the second drive.
Targeting star tight end Travis Kelce, Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes put too much on a throw that was consequently intercepted by Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. Fulton, who was signed in free agency from the Tennessee Titans, started an interception return along the right sideline until he was stripped of the ball by promising Kansas City receiver Rashee Rice. Thankfully, for the Chargers, they were able to retain possession after the fumble was ruled to be possessed by Los Angeles thanks to a recovering player contacting the ball out of bounds. However, as if the interception was not enough pain for the Chiefs, Mahomes accidentally dove into Rice’s knee in a friendly-fire action and severely injured the wide receiver while attempting to chase down Fulton on his run back from the pick.
The Chargers would go on to settle for a 50-yard field goal from kicker Cameron Dicker and jump to an early ten-point lead after the drive created by Fulton’s big play stalled thanks to a chop block and offensive holding penalty. This lack of offensive production would prove to be a theme from this moment and on for Los Angeles as the Chief defense orchestrated a plethora of stops to make sure they were always within striking distance.
Eventually, late in the second quarter, the Kansas City offense finally capitalized and scored their first points of the game.
After another punt forced by the Chief defense, Mahomes wasted no time in launching a 54-yard bomb to first-round rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy for the score. On the very first play of the drive, Worthy burned past the aforementioned Fulton to the endzone on a pass from Mahomes that seemed shot straight out of a cannon. The rookie receiver’s elite speed is no secret; he owns the highest record 40-yard dash time in NFL Combine history.
With no offensive juice to respond, Los Angeles would not score a single point the rest of the game. Thankfully for the Bolts, they were able to enter halftime with the 10-7 lead helped by a missed 65-yard field goal attempt by Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker as time expired.
As Kansas City’s offense slowly began to come to life, the Charger defense maintained solid effort and forced Mahomes and company to a field goal on their first drive of the second half, knotting the game up at 10 a piece. A missed field goal by Dicker to start the second half after a 6-play, 33-yard drive made sure that the Chief field goal would be a game-tying one.
After 10 unanswered points by Kansas City up to that point, the Chargers’ second offensive drive of the second half was understood as the most important of the game. Seeming like they knew the fact, Los Angeles came out firing with a 26-yard strike from Herbert to wide receiver Joshua Palmer as the former rolled out right off of play-action to hit an open Palmer down the field. Herbert, who has failed to hit the 200-yard passing mark in any of the first four games of the season, totaled 179 passing yards on 16 for 27 passing on the day.
Relying on the rushing attack with running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards and the short passing game, the Chargers methodically moved down the field to set up a 1st & 10 from the Kansas City 12-yard line late in the third quarter.
After a Dobbins rush for no gain and two Herbert pass attempts that culminated in 9 yards, Los Angeles stared at a 4th & 1 at the Kansas City 3-yard line with 13;37 remaining in the fourth quarter. A chip shot field goal from Dicker would allow the Chargers to take a three-point lead and rely on the defense to try to win it on the other side of the ball, but head coach Jim Harbaugh had other plans and decided to go for it.
Perhaps surprisingly, the 4th-down attempt was a passing attempt from Herbert, and after being pressured quickly by Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones, he was forced to fire towards the endzone towards tight end Hayden Hurst. Unfortunately for the Bolts, the Kansas City pressure proved to be too much and the pass sailed over Hurst’s head for a turnover on downs.
A good stand by Los Angeles on defense allowed the Chargers to get the ball back with the game still tied at 10, but a disappointing three-and-out sequence for the offense ensured that the Chiefs would receive the ball in a tied game as well once again.
Asking too much of the defense after excellent play all afternoon, the Chargers would go on to give up a touchdown on a five-play, 60-yard drive by the Chiefs finished from a 2-yard touchdown rush by veteran running back Samaje Perine. The Chiefs took a 17-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter that they would not give up.
The seven-point deficit was insurmountable for Los Angeles and the current state of the offense. Thanks to previous injuries to star offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, the 2024 first-round rookie, the run-and-pass game ceased to exist outside of the first quarter. Dobbins, who ended his day with a disappointing 14 carries for 32 rushing yards to go along with 3 receptions for 30 yards, tried to ignite the Charger offense on their final offensive drive of the game, but his efforts were unsuccessful and the Chargers were forced to punt for the sixth time in the matchup.
“They’re a really well-coached team. We’ve got a lot of respect for them. They’ve got a lot of guys on that side of the ball that fly around. So it’s on us to be able to handle their front seven, push the ball downfield and keep running the ball,” said Herbert regarding the challenge of facing the Chief defense.
A third-down conversion to Worthy from Mahomes sealed the victory for Kansas City, a sloppy victory for the back-to-back defending champions and a depressing loss for the Chargers. While a one-score loss is nothing to laugh at against a team as high quality as the Chiefs, it feels like Los Angeles had plenty of opportunities to steal this victory away from their now 4-0 division rivals.
“We didn’t execute. It didn’t go our way today and that’s not going to stop us going forward next week, two weeks, whenever it is. That’s just the way the NFL is,” Herbert said.
Next for the Chargers is a much-needed bye week and then a division date against the Denver Broncos in Colorado on October 13th. They will look to grab their third win as they will face a team with the same record as them, 2-2.
