KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Alex Smith squirmed out of the pile in the end zone, got to his feet and let out a roar. Some of that had to do with an improved San Diego offensive line anchored by new center Matt Slauson, which spent three quarters pushing around the Kansas City defense.
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The Chiefs scored their first touchdown of the season in the third quarter, as Alex Smith hit Tyreek Hill for a 9-yard score. Smith calmly completed six passes and marched his team 56 yards to the end zone. They showed a lot of character and grit, and the players didn’t seem overly pleased with themselves afterward, which speaks to the standards they hold themselves to and is a positive sign going forward. He injected the offense with 199 total yards and a game-tying touchdown.
Playing without star running back Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs came into the game with Spencer Ware as their starter.
“In the first half, all three phases were brutal”, head coach Andy Reid said of his offense, defense and special teams. “They had confidence in each other”. Ware also found success in the passing game, leading all Chiefs with seven receptions for 129 yards, including a 45-yard reception that set up the Chiefs first touchdown of the day. The Chiefs also surrendered two touchdowns on the ground to a running back (Melvin Gordon) who didn’t score all last season.
“Everybody with eyes who saw the game has got to know, we have to close it”, Chargers offensive tackle Joe Barksdale said.
On defense, when the Chiefs weren’t getting bludgeoned by the San Diego running game, Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was tying cornerback Marcus Peters – last season’s National Football League defensive rookie of the year – in knots. The Chiefs then finished the game on a 30-3 run and won 33-27 in overtime.
Sunday’s loss was their ninth straight in the AFC West dating to 2014.
“It was a game where for three quarters and change, we had control”, Rivers said. But it really hit its stride when the Chargers missed a 54-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, giving Kansas City some desperately needed momentum. A 33-yard field goal by Cairo Santos chopped the margin to seven and Kansas City tied it up with 63 seconds to play on a 5-yard touchdown scamper by running back Spencer Ware.
While running back Danny Woodhead led the Chargers in receptions past year and tight end Antonio Gates was third on the team, behind Allen, Stevie Johnson’s 45 receptions were fourth and Dontrelle Inman was next among receivers with 35 catches. He is recovering from a torn ACL and last played in October 2015. “We know we’re disappointed in this year, but Mike is someone we want to build around, so we thought that was important to get that done”.
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“In the first half, we stopped ourselves, we didn’t execute and we didn’t have enough energy”, Ware said of his team’s first-half efforts that produced only 105 yards and a field goal.
