KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three years in the past, Jaylen Watson was working for his mom at a Wendy’s in his Georgia hometown. On Thursday, he was getting a possibility within the Kansas Metropolis secondary as a result of cornerback Trent McDuffie, a first-round decide, pulled a hamstring within the season opener.
Watson made essentially the most of it.
With Kansas Metropolis and Los Angeles tied, 17-17, within the fourth quarter and the Chargers 3 yards from taking the lead, Watson stepped in entrance of tight finish Gerald Everett, picked off a throw from Justin Herbert and rocketed 99 yards for a game-changing pick-6.
It was a again breaker for the Chargers, who had been making an attempt to do one thing that they had not accomplished in 10 years: start the season 2-0.
As an alternative, Kansas Metropolis constructed on the play to win Thursday night time’s sport, 27-24.
Matt Ammendola, the kicker Kansas Metropolis signed this week to interchange the injured Harrison Butker, booted a 35-yard discipline objective with a little bit over three minutes remaining within the fourth quarter to place his workforce up by 10 factors. Herbert then drove the Chargers 73 yards in two minutes, punctuating the drive with a 7-yard landing cross to Josh Palmer. It was not sufficient.
Los Angeles tried an onside kick that bounced Kansas Metropolis’s means, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes knelt out the remainder of the clock.
What was presupposed to be a pinball-style scoring fest propelled by Herbert and Mahomes became a battle between two oft-maligned defenses. In taking a 10-7 lead into halftime, the Chargers had bullied Kansas Metropolis’s offensive line, stuffing the run and harassing Mahomes deep behind the road of scrimmage on nearly each play.
When Mike Williams made a one-handed seize for a 15-yard landing on the Chargers’ opening drive of the second half, the rebooted Chargers seemed poised to run Kansas Metropolis off their residence discipline.
However a affected person Mahomes proceeded to choose the Chargers aside. And on the following possession, when he noticed Justin Watson streaking down the center of the sector by his lonesome, Mahomes winged a cross that Watson took 41 yards for the landing to slim the Chargers’ result in 17-14.
Jaylen Watson and his defensive teammates apparently had been rejuvenated. Defensive linemen Chris Jones and George Karlaftis chased Herbert all through the second half, and Mike Danna’s hit on the Chargers quarterback with slightly below 5 minutes remaining briefly despatched Herbert out of the sport.
He returned and completed with a valiant 334 yards on 33 of 48 passing, with three touchdowns. Mahomes — maybe lacking Tyreek Hill, his high risk from a season in the past who was traded to the Miami Dolphins within the low season — racked up 236 yards and two landing on 24 of 35 passing. Mahomes did ship passes to 10 totally different teammates throughout the sport.
Nevertheless it was Watson who delivered the heroics.