How the KC Chiefs stuffed the Chargers on three goal-line tries during Thursday’s win
The Los Angeles Chargers made history in the first half of Thursday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs — by not scoring.
The Chiefs’ defense came up with three goal-line stops in their 34-28 overtime win at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Two of those stops were on fourth down, making the Chargers the first team to fail twice on fourth-and-goal in a first half since ... the Chargers did it on Dec. 16, 1984 against the Chiefs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In the second half, the Chiefs made another goal-line stand by forcing a fumble.
“The defense held us in that game,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said in a postgame news conference. “All those fourth-down stops against a really, really good offense.”
Linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who had eight combined tackles and an interception on the night, said he’d never been part of a game with that many goal-line stands.
“That’s very impressive,” Hitchens said. “That’s huge. They can easily have nine more points and we’re probably sitting here with a loss. So just hats off to guys fighting all the way to the end.”
The Chiefs forced their first turnover on downs around a minute and a half into the first quarter. The Chargers went for it at the 5 and quarterback Justin Herbert wasn’t able to connect with tight end Donald Parham Jr., who suffered a head injury on the play. He was taken to a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition, according to the Chargers.
Then, with his team up 14-10 and 3 seconds left in the first half, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley decided to go for it on fourth down at the Chiefs’ 1. Safety Daniel Sorensen read the offense and rose up as Herbert tried to throw a pass towards the end zone, batting it down as the clock expired.
The Chiefs were expecting them to go for it on fourth down, coach Andy Reid explained postgame.
“That’s what they do. They do it with everybody. It wasn’t just us,” Reid said. “We knew that coming into the game that if it’s fourth down, their head coach has said it: He’s said that’s like third down to them. But you’ve got to stop them, so our guys got enough of those (stops) to help.”
The Chargers went for it on fourth down five times on Thursday night, only converting two of those chances.
“They don’t want to kick field goals and they want to go for it, you gotta make them pay,” Hitchens said. “...In my opinion, you probably should just get points anytime you can, but some people have built their team and their culture differently.”
The contest remained close throughout the second half. With around 11 minutes left, the Chiefs trailed 14-13 and were in desperate need of a goal-line stop.
On third and goal from the Chiefs’ 1, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton batted the ball out of the hands of Chargers running back Joshua Kelley as he tried to hurdle over the defense into the end zone. Linebacker Ben Niemann recovered, the Chargers once again robbed of a seemingly easy scoring opportunity.
Mahomes threw an interception on the ensuing drive and the Chiefs would trail by eight points before pushing the game to overtime, where tight end Travis Kelce won it. But the Chiefs wouldn’t have had an opportunity to secure their seventh consecutive win if it wasn’t for those goal-line stands.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM with the headline "How the KC Chiefs stuffed the Chargers on three goal-line tries during Thursday’s win."
