LOS ANGELES (AP) — The first two meetings between Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert have come down to the final minute.
With playoff positioning up for grabs, the same thing is expected tonight when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Los Angeles Chargers.
The two-time defending AFC champion Chiefs (9-4) have won six straight since a 3-4 start to vault back into the division lead.
One of those losses was to the Chargers on Sept. 26 when Herbert threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams with 32 seconds remaining as Los Angeles rallied for a 30-24 victory.
The Chargers (8-5) come in with wins in two straight games for the first time since October and can move into first place in the AFC West with a victory by virtue of sweeping the season series.
“Our focus isn’t on what’s at stake. It’s on our opponent. We know the challenge that is in front of us and how we need to play this game,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said.
Kansas City committed four turnovers in the first meeting that led to 21 Los Angeles points, but Mahomes and company have been rolling since overcoming their early season struggles.
“I think we could continue to play better and better. You want to keep building as the season goes on,” said Mahomes, who is fifth in the league with 3,642 passing yards.
“I think defense is playing really good right now and the offense is — some games are great and some game just average so for us it’s going to be us going into play a good defense that we’re playing on Thursday and playing our best football.”
