Mike Williams caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers with four seconds left and a two-point conversion that capped a furious fourth quarter rally as the Los Angeles Chargers clinched a playoff spot and kept their AFC West division title hopes alive with a 29-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.
Damien Williams 1-yard touchdown run for Kansas City gave the Chiefs a 28-14 lead with 8:15 remaining to play. A 3-yard touchdown run from Justin Jackson cut the lead to 28-21 with 3:49 left and 60-yard scoring drive in 2:33 for the go-ahead score allowed the Chargers to steal a victory that would have clinched the division title for the Chiefs.
With Keenan Allen catchless and sidelined for much of the game due to a hip injury and with Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler both out with injuries as well, Williams rose to the occasion to carry the Chargers offense. Williams caught seven passes for 76 yards with two touchdowns and scored a third touchdown on a 19-yard end around run to lift the Chargers offense. Travis Benjamin also came through with two clutch catches on Los Angeles’ final drive to set up the game-winning Williams touchdown.
Rivers finished with 313 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
It was also the first win for the Chargers over the Chiefs since a 27-24 overtime victory in Sept. 2016.
The Chiefs marched 73 yards on 13 plays and ran nearly eight minutes off the clock before Damien Williams’ touchdown put Kansas City in control. After Jackson’s touchdown run closed the gap to seven, the Chargers forced a three-and-out which allowed them to get a shot for one final drive. However, Desmond King muffed the punt and nearly coughed the chance away before the game-winning drive could even begin.
Rivers zipped a pass to Benjamin for 31 yards after a holding penalty pushed the Chargers into a first-and-20 at their own 30 to begin the drive. Rivers would hit Benjamin again for 26 yards on fourth-and-7 from the Chiefs’ 36 to move the Chargers to the 10. A pass interference call on Steven Nelson gave the Chargers a fresh set of downs with eight seconds left and Rivers hit Williams for the touchdown on the ensuing play. Kansas City then appeared to bust a coverage on the two-point conversion, allowing Williams to be all alone for an easy grab to get the win.
Patrick Mahomes passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas City. Damien Williams finished with 123 total yards from scrimmage in place of an injured Spencer Ware and the released Kareem Hunt.
The first two drives of the game for each team seemed to set the stage for the rest of the night. The Chargers ran seven offensive plays, gained 30 total yards and Rivers was intercepted by Steven Nelson. The Chiefs ran 20 offensive plays, gained 119 yards and Mahomes tossed touchdown passes to Demarcus Robinson and Darrel Williams in building a 14-0 lead.
The Chargers would never close the gap to less than seven points the rest of the night until their final offensive play of the game.
Damien Williams scored on touchdown runs of two yards and 1-yard for Kansas City.