Justin Herbert passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Chargers to a 27-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the season opener for the AFC West rivals on Friday night at Sao Paulo.
Quentin Johnston had five receptions for 79 yards and two touchdowns and Keenan Allen had seven receptions for 68 yards and a scoring catch. Herbert was 25-of-34 passing and also rushed for 32 yards.
Patrick Mahomes completed 24 of 39 passes for 258 yards and one touchdown for the defending AFC champion Chiefs. Mahomes also led Kansas City with 57 rushing yards, while Travis Kelce hauled in a touchdown pass.
The Chiefs were hoping for one last chance but Herbert scrambled for 19 yards on third-and-14 just before the two-minute warning. That allowed the Chargers to run out the clock on kneeldowns.
Los Angeles had a 394-347 edge in total offense over Kansas City, which lost receiver Xavier Worthy (right shoulder) on the third offensive play.
The Chiefs finally scored a touchdown on Mahomes’ 11-yard run with 8:05 left in the third quarter to pull within 13-12. But Harrison Butker was wide right on the extra point.
The Chargers pushed their lead to eight when Herbert hit Allen on an 11-yard scoring pass with 32 seconds left in the period.
Kansas City answered early in the fourth quarter when Mahomes hit a wide-open Kelce at the 25-yard line and the latter completed the 37-yard scoring pass to bring the Chiefs within 20-18. The ensuing two-point conversion failed when Teair Tart swatted away Mahomes’ throw with his left hand.
The Chargers then moved 74 yards on 11 plays with Herbert tossing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Johnston to make it a 27-18 lead with 5:02 left.
Butker’s 27-yard field goal pulled the Chiefs within six with 2:34 to play.
The Chargers scored the game’s first 10 points. Herbert threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Johnston to cap the team’s first drive and Cameron Dicker kicked a 39-yard field goal with 13:47 left in the first half.
Kansas City got on the board on Butker’s 35-yard field goal with 4:50 left. The 16-play drive included two fourth-down conversions.
Dicker booted a 36-yard field goal to give the Chargers a 13-3 lead with 45 seconds left in the half. However, rookie Omarion Hampton ran out of bounds on the previous play instead of sliding down inbounds and that cost his team three points.
Kansas City was able to put together a five-play drive and the field-goal unit scrambled on in the final seconds and Butker kicked a 59-yard field goal to end the half and cut the Los Angeles lead to 13-6.
