Kansas City Chiefs vs San Diego Chargers Monday Night Football Recap
The Kansas City Chiefs & San Diego Chargers had played each other 103 times prior to last night’s Halloween Monday Night battle. The all-time series stood at 51-51-1 so it was probably fitting that the game ultimately went into overtime. The Chiefs thrilled the haunted home field crowd by scaring up a 23-20 victory. The twisted turn of events leading to the win proved as thrilling & mind boggling as any top notch Halloween garage haunted house.
KC started strong. After forcing the Chargers to a three & out on their first possession they drove 49 yards in 10 plays & kicked a first strike field goal. Chiefs DB Kendrick Lewis intercepted Chargers QB Philip Rivers on the next play from scrimmage, only to see KC RB Dexter McCluster fumble it right back to San Diego on the play after that. Then Chiefs LB Derrick Thomas, er Johnson picked off Rivers again & Chiefs QB Matt Cassel hit #1 draft pick Jonathan Baldwin with his first NFL touchdown for a 10-0 lead. The Chargers had a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates negated by a phantom interference call & then missed a field goal try, & then made one. KC tacked on a late 2 nd quarter field goal for a 13-3 halftime advantage.
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The Chargers roared back with three field goals to cut the deficit to 13-12 by the end of the 3 rd quarter, but their inability to score touchdowns doomed their chances of an easy win. Meantime the Chiefs made only one first down in both the 2 nd & 3 rd quarters as six offensive possessions netted 8 total yards & an interception. This game featured eight turnovers, four by each team, & 21 penalties, 12 of those on the Chargers. Ugly, ugly, ugly like a Halloween mask.
Despite all the horrific play San Diego seemingly had a chance to escape Arrowhead with a road win when they drove down to the Chiefs 16 yard line with a minute left but Rivers fumbled a simple snap. Cassel returned the favor by throwing an interception with 12 seconds left so the game proceeded to the aforementioned overtime.
In the OT each team got one possession. San Diego made like the Chiefs & went three & out, then KC made like the Chargers & drove 69 yards in 14 plays to kick the game winning field goal. In the end the Chargers gave it away every bit as much as the Texas Rangers did in the World Series. But also in the end the Chiefs took the win, much like the St. Louis Cardinals did. Style doesn’t matter, scoreboard does. Shockingly & suddenly in a bizarre turn of events the Kansas City Chiefs, with upcoming home games vs 0-7 Miami & 2-5 Denver, appear to have the inside track in the AFC West. Then again, this is the NFL which stands for Not Following Logic!
By Allan Gardner
ProFootball-fans.com Kansas City Chiefs Correspondent