By BETH HARRIS
Justin Herbert finished off the Los Angeles Chargers’ season-opening victory in style, sliding for a first down that effectively ended the game.
The quarterback earned style points for his scramble and sideline slide that capped a 318-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 27-21 victory over the Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night in Sao Paulo. Herbert had 32 yards rushing, too.
Los Angeles’ first win over the Chiefs since Sept. 26, 2021, snapped a seven-game skid against the team that has dominated the AFC for nearly a decade.
“It’s monumental,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “September 5th will go down in some Charger lore, in my opinion. It was a big win.”
The NFL’s second game South America was streamed on YouTube, with Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar in attendance. Newly engaged pop superstar Taylor Swift wasn’t there to watch fiancé Travis Kelce and see Colombian singer Karol G perform at halftime.
Herbert became just the third quarterback in Chargers history with 300 yards and three TDs in a season opener. His 19-yard run on third-and-14 dashed any comeback hopes the Chiefs had with 2:21 to play. He finished 25 of 34 and was sacked three times.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight, so we showed up today with our best effort,” Herbert said. “It was fun to see.”
Mahomes was 24 of 39 for 258 yards, one touchdown and two sacks.
“This will be a big lesson for us,” Mahomes said. “They definitely came out with more energy than we did. We got to get better from the start.”
Herbert’s 23-yard TD pass to Quentin Johnston extended the lead to 26-18 with 5:02 remaining in the fourth. They hooked up for a 5-yard TD on the Chargers’ opening drive of the game.
Chased by Khalil Mack, Mahomes threw incomplete to Marquise Brown on first-and-goal at the LA 9. Two more incomplete passes brought on Harrison Butker, whose 27-yard field goal cut the deficit to 27-21 with 2:34 remaining.
The Chiefs closed to 20-18 on Mahomes’ 37-yard TD pass to Kelce early in the fourth. The 2-point conversion failed as Mahomes’ pass was incomplete to Noah Gray.
“Multiple times we shot ourselves in the foot,” Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said.
Injuries
The Chiefs were already down two receivers to start the game, with Rashee Rice suspended to start the season and rookie Jalen Royals out with a knee injury.
They lost another one three snaps into the game.
Xavier Worthy and teammate Kelce collided on a third-down pass. Worthy had to be helped off the field and was later ruled out with a right shoulder injury.
Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman didn’t return after leaving with an ankle injury in the third.
Rookie miscue
Chargers running back Omarion Hampton made a rookie mistake late in the first half.
The first-round draft pick got a handoff on 3rd-and-16 in the final minute when the Chiefs had no timeouts left. Instead of staying in bounds and letting the clock run, Hampton ran out of bounds. That stopped the clock and the Chargers got a 36-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker for a 13-3 lead.
Mahomes then moved the Chiefs within field goal range and their kicking unit rushed on the field. Butker hit a 59-yarder with the 40 seconds to go, leaving the Chiefs trailing 13-6.
Take that
Kelce shoved Chargers defensive tackle Teair Tart, who responded with a blow to Kelce’s helmet in the third quarter. Tart was penalized for unnecessary roughness, but wasn’t thrown out because he used an open hand.
Up next
Chiefs: Host Philadelphia on Sept. 14 in a Super Bowl rematch.
Chargers: At Las Vegas on Sept. 15.
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