Once again most fans, even the faithful in Chiefs Kingdom were down and ready to concede this game to Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers. Even most experts were leaning towards the Chargers. On the national radio broadcast, the announcers called the Chiefs win “shocking.” Not for me. If I could use Allen Iverson’s “practice, we talkin’ practice” rant for a moment, I would say “Philip…we talkin’ Philip. We’re not talkin’ Peyton, we’re talkin’ Philip.”
C’mon, Rivers at night in Arrowhead. I knew this dude would self destruct late and that’s exactly what happened.
The Chiefs picked him off three times, and forced a fumble all in the second half. Those four turnovers sparked a rally for a 30-13 victory on Saturday night. It placed the Chiefs in control of the divsion.
Marcus Peters, in his first game after a suspension, had two of the picks.
Kansas City continues to have their issues. The Chiefs are 28th in the NFL in redzone touchdowns. They settled for two field goals once they got inside the 20. Harrison Butker missed a re-do field goal attempt. After the Chiefs took a 10-0 lead, they let the Chargers go in front 13-10. It was the way the offense and then defense responded that set the tone.
A steady dose of Kareem Hunt on a 12 play, 69 yard drive chewed up over seven minutes on the put the Chiefs ahead 17-13. Hunt gained 39 of those yards and his three-yard touchdown catch ended the drive.
Then the defense came to play. In the span of the Chargers next 21 plays, Rivers was picked off three times and Peters caused a fumble after a completion. The Chiefs answered with FG, FG, TD to blow the game open.
Kansas City’s defense has come with six sacks and five interceptions in the last two wins over division opponents.
With a win over Miami next week, the Chiefs will lock up the AFC West.
If you would like to hear what I had to say from Friday morning’s Bill Pollock, give a listen. You can skip ahead to 22:55 of the podcast.