Week 15 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 9, San Diego Chargers 20

What you need to know

Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City went into San Diego for a Sunday Night Football game they needed to win to stay competitive the AFC Wild Card race. Their offense was stifled all night, and their defense gave up big plays in the running game that earned them a loss and critically hurt their chances for a postseason berth. The offense struggled to find any rhythm during the game, and they had a difficult time handling the pressure from San Diego’s front seven. The Chiefs never made a serious threat to score a touchdown, and finished the game with only three field goals on the scoreboard.

Trent Green had a relatively efficient night throwing the ball, but a majority of his completions went for short gains. He was mostly accurate, but didn’t attempt many strikes downfield and suffered heavily under San Diego’s pass rush. He was harassed all game, being sacked six times but pressured and hurried many times more. Overall Green had a disappointing fantasy outing, throwing one interception and no touchdowns, and finishing with only 185 passing yards.

Larry Johnson was on the short end of the stick in this match up of the league’s two best running backs, as LaDainian Tomlinson easily outperformed him. Johnson ran hard throughout the game, but he was mostly shut down by a stifling Chargers defense. He didn’t see quite as many carries as usual, which was caused by Kansas City trailing throughout the game, and the fact that he didn’t do much with his touches. Over one quarter of his rushing production came on one 26 yard scamper. Otherwise, he had 58 yards on 18 carries for a 3.2 average and no touchdowns.

Green’s favorite targets were tight end Tony Gonzalez and wide receiver Eddie Kennison, who both received double digit looks. Both finished with six catches, with Gonzalez getting the slight edge in yardage.

The defense played hard, but couldn’t contain San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson scored two touchdowns, which was more than enough for the victory. The Chiefs gave up a total of 165 rushing yards. The pass defense was excellent, and it showed on the frustrated face of San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers. The only allowed 97 yards, forced two interceptions, and sacked Rivers twice.

San Diego Chargers

San Diego moved one step closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with their Sunday Night victory over Kansas City. Once again, the main storyline for the Chargers was running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who continued his record-setting year with 199 rushing yards and two scores. His first score gave him the record for most total points in a season, breaking a record held for over 40 years. Tomlinson was the primary focus of the Chargers running game, and it was his excellence (and two scores) that led to the victory.

Quarterback Philip Rivers had an atrocious game, completing only 34.8% of his passes and finishing with only 97 yards and two interceptions. He never seemed to get any rhythm, and grew further frustrated as the game went on and he continued to miss receivers. Rivers throws were all over the place, and rarely found their intended target. His passes were frequently overthrown, under thrown, behind his target, tipped at the line of scrimmage, and twice, intercepted. As the game went on the Chargers moved to an all-rush attack. Rivers only attempted seven second half passes, and only completed two.

Rivers’ favorite targets were tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Vincent Jackson. Jackson had the best game of the entire receiving corps, mostly on the strength of Rivers’ last pass, a 46 yard completion that set up Nate Kaeding’s second field goal of the night. Other than Jackson, no San Diego receiver had more than two catches or 16 yards.

The Chargers’ defense shut down the Kansas City offense by allowing no touchdowns. The pass rush was phenomenal and gave Trent Green problems all night. The defense ended up with six sacks and one interception. The only allowed 185 yards passing and 91 yards rushing.

What you ought to know

QB Trent Green, Pass: 23 - 41 - 185 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0

Green suffered under almost constant pressure from the San Diego pass rush. He was sacked six times and hurried many more. Green threw an interception on his second pass of the game. He was targeting Tony Gonzalez, but San Diego middle linebacker Donnie Edwards stepped in front of the pass and picked it off. Green’s favorite targets were Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison, who had 11 and ten looks, respectively. His longest play of the game came at the end of the first half, when he connected for a 26 yard completion to Samie Parker. Parker only had four looks, but Green usually looked to him deep. Green completed 56.1% of his passes, and had no touchdowns. He also scrambled once for three yards.

RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 19 - 84 - 0, Rec: 3 - 9 - 0 (6 targets)

Johnson had a hard time getting anything going on the ground, despite running hard. His only breakthrough came on a 26 yard scamper early in the third quarter. Otherwise, most of his rushes went for minimal gains. Johnson caught three of the six passes thrown his way, but only for small gains.

RB Dee Brown, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0

Brown got some game action in the second half to spell Johnson.

RB Michael Bennett (1 targets)

Bennett got some early action when Johnson temporarily went to the sideline after a big hit. He saw one look in the passing game, but it was off target.

WR Eddie Kennison, Rec: 6 - 43 - 0 (10 targets)

Kennison had the second most looks of any Chiefs’ receivers. He was second on the team in yardage, and tied with Tony Gonzalez for the team lead with six receptions. Kennison dropped the last pass of the game that would’ve earned a first down and kept the Chiefs’ slim hopes alive.

WR Dante Hall, Rec: 3 - 16 - 0 (5 targets)

Hall was targeted more than usual but his catches were short passes that were intended for him to use his run after the catch ability.

WR Samie Parker, Rec: 1 - 26 - 0 (4 targets)

Parker’s only catch was the biggest of the game for Kansas City, a 26 yard hookup at the end of the first half. His other targets were mostly deep as well.

TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 6 - 53 - 0 (11 targets)

Gonzalez led the team in all significant receiving statistics. He was the target on Green’s interception. Gonzalez was targeted in the end zone in the fourth quarter, but the connection couldn’t be made. He was definitely Green’s go to receiver in this game.

TE Jason Dunn, Rec: 2 - 27 - 0 (2 targets)

Dunn caught both of the balls thrown his way in the second half.

TE Kris Wilson, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (3 targets)

Wilson’s three looks all came in the third quarter. He caught two but dropped the third.

PK Lawrence Tynes 3 - 3 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 9 points

Tynes hit all three of the field goals, from 45, 52, and 24 yards. His first attempt hit the right upright and bounced through for three points.

KC Rush Defense

The Chiefs’ rush defense was yet another victim of LaDainian Tomlinson’s greatness. They gave up 199 yards to him, and 265 yards total. Tomlinson scored two rushing touchdowns, which proved to be the difference in the game.

KC Pass Defense

The Chiefs’ pass defense was surprisingly stout, limiting Philip Rivers to 97 yards and two interceptions on 34.8% passing. Greg Wesley and rookie lineman Tamba Hali snagged the two picks. Hali and James Reed also contributed a sack each. The pass defense gave up no scores.

QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 8 - 23 - 97 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - -2 - 0

Rivers had a horrible game, and he was clearly frustrated by it. He was seen arguing with the refs and also angry on the sidelines after struggling with his accuracy. Rivers only completed 34.8% of his passes, and most of his misses were way off. He threw two interceptions, both of which seemed to be cases of Rivers trying too hard to make a completion. His preferred targets were Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson. With the Chargers having the lead, they ran the ball much more in the second half, as Rivers only threw seven balls in the last half of the game. It was Rivers’ worst game as a pro.

RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 25 - 199 - 2, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets)

Tomlinson continued his record-setting season with another phenomenal performance. He rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns, the later of which was an 85 yard burst that was the longest yet of his impressive career. Tomlinson couldn’t be stopped, and showed his trademark speed, vision, and superior agility throughout the contest. He came close to breaking the 200 yard mark, but got popped in the face and finished the game on the sidelines receiving some medical attention to his jaw. It was another in an ever-growing line of incredible performances by Tomlinson.

RB Michael Turner, Rush: 7 - 58 - 0

Turner has his most rushes in a game since Week 4. He did well with his seven carries, earning 8.3 yards per carry. He had a 25 yard burst on a fake punt where the ball was snapped to him instead of the punter. Turner also contributed well on special teams, where he averaged 34.8 yards per kickoff return, including a long of 58. It was speculated both that he will see more carries at the end of the year in an attempt to keep Tomlinson fresh for the playoffs, and that he will draw interest from other teams this off-season as his is a restricted free agent.

RB Lorenzo Neal, Rush: 2 - 10 - 0, Rec: 2 - 3 - 0 (3 targets)

Neal did most of his damage by clearing a path for LaDainian Tomlinson. Otherwise, he had a few carries and a couple of short completions.

WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 3 - 66 - 0 (5 targets)

Jackson was the most targeted wide receiver for the Chargers. He led the team in receiving yards, mostly on the strength of a late game 46 yard bomb. Jackson is showing lots of promise and is on the upswing heading into the playoffs and 2007.

WR Eric Parker, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (4 targets)

All of Parker’s looks came in the first half. He seemed to suffer the brunt of Rivers’ inaccuracy, as most of his looks were well off target.

WR Keenan McCardell (1 targets)

McCardell’s only target was Rivers’ second interception, and it came in the fourth quarter.

WR Kassim Osgood (1 targets)

Osgood only had one look, the first of the second half.

TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (5 targets)

Gates only caught one of the five passes thrown his way, for his worst fantasy game of the year. He was the target on Rivers’ first interception. Otherwise, most of his looks were off target.

TE Brandon Manumaleuna (1 targets)

Manumaleuna only saw one target, and it came in the second quarter.

PK Nate Kaeding 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Kaeding was true on all of his attempts, including fourth quarter field goals of 30 and 22 yards, and both of his PATs.

SD Rush Defense

The Chargers’ rush defense managed to keep Larry Johnson in check. He busted off one long run of 26 yards but otherwise only managed 58 yards on 18 carries. They gave up no touchdowns, and only 90 total rushing yards.

SD Pass Defense

The Chargers’ pass defense was put to the test with 41 attempts from Trent Green. They kept the game in front of them and allowed a very low per catch and per attempt average. Overall, they gave up 185 yards and no touchdowns. The pass rush was very effective, sacking Green six times. Linebacker Randall Godfrey led the way with two sacks. Donnie Edwards had the lone interception of the game, making a nice place early in the first quarter to step in front of a Green pass intended for Tony Gonzalez.