The Los Angeles Chargers were dominating the first half and had a chance to take a two-score lead into halftime, but instead they let the wily Kansas City Chiefs right back into the game.
With 54 seconds remaining, the Chargers had a third-and-16 in field goal range. They could have run the clock under 10 seconds as the Chiefs had burned all three of their timeouts. Instead, Los Angeles’ first round draft pick made a costly rookie mistake.
Running back Omarion Hampton took a carry and ran eight yards before stepping out of bounds and stopping the clock with 45 seconds left. While the run was designed to go outside, Hampton easily could have slid to the ground before going out of bounds. On the following play, kicker Cameron Dicker knocked home a 36-yard field goal to put the Chargers up 13-3.
The Chiefs got the ball back with 40 seconds, more than enough time for superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes to lead a drive. It took just one play as Mahomes hit Tyquan Thornton on a corner route for a 38-yard gain that put Kansas City squarely in field-goal range.
With 21 seconds left in the first half, all the Chiefs had to do was not make any mistakes. But, that’s exactly what they did. Offensive lineman Jawaan Taylor and Josh Simmons, a rookie, committed back-to-back false starts, pushing the Chiefs just out of field goal range.
With 17 seconds left, Mahomes hit Noah Gray on a route directed toward the boundary, but the tight end couldn’t get out of bounds, and the clock continued to run, forcing Kansas City to sprint its field-goal team onto the field for a 59-yard attempt.
Amidst all the chaos, kicker Harrison Butker stepped up to the spot and brought the Chiefs back within seven, 13-6. It was a series of small plays, but it could have a significant outcome on the game, and it’s those moments that make the Chiefs so inevitable.
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