After several weeks of boring stinkers on Thursday Night Football, we got our second week in a row with an exciting Thursday Night Football game! Just like last week, it didn’t look that way in the first half. The first half should have had more scoring, but we had a fumble, an interception, and 2 turnovers on downs. The Chargers had 2 drives where they had 1st and goal from the KC 5-yard line and could not put points on the board. They still went into the half with a lead, but the score was only 14-10 and we were missing the fireworks we expected from 2 of the best teams in the AFC. The second half delivered though. We saw Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert go toe to toe with big plays and touchdown drives including an exciting back and forth 4th quarter. The Chiefs were able to pull off a huge divisional road win in overtime with a 34-28 final over the Chargers.
Of course, the battle of 2 of the best young quarterbacks in the league was the main feature of this game. Many regard Patrick Mahomes as the best quarterback in football and Justin Herbert in his 2nd year is establishing himself as an elite talent as well. They certainly didn’t disappoint in this one. Mahomes threw 47 times and completed 31 passes for 410 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mahomes had a quiet first half that included no touchdown passes and fumbling towards the end of the half, so I’m sure that his fantasy managers were starting to panic in their playoff matchups. He came through in the 2nd half for them though throwing for 3 touchdowns by the time things were all said and done.
Justin Herbert was also slinging it last night and he threw 38 times and completed 22 passes for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns himself. He also ran 5 times for 16 yards and added a touchdown on the ground. In a tie game with about 5 minutes to go in the game, Herbert led an impressive 11 play, 75-yard drive that ended in a Keenan Allen touchdown to give the Chargers the lead right before the 2-minute warning. Unfortunately, it left too much time on the clock for Patrick Mahomes who countered with his own 8 play 75-yard touchdown drive to tie it back up and send the game to overtime.
Once the Chiefs won the toss and got the ball, we pretty much knew this game was over. The hero in overtime was also the star of the game, Travis Kelce. Kelce had a monster game catching 10 passes on 13 targets for a whopping 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. He nearly had a 3rd touchdown when he had a nice 69-yard catch and run in the 4th quarter, but he was chased down and tackled at the 1-yard line. In overtime, they couldn’t catch him. Kelce took a pass over the middle, reversed direction, and made a tackler miss, and he was off to the races for the game-winning touchdown.
Tyreek Hill also had a big game for Kansas City. He also saw 13 targets and turned them into 12 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown. With Kelce and Hill both having at least 10 catches and over 100 receiving yards, they became the first teammates ever to accomplish that in 2 separate games together. The teammates combined for 22 receptions for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns last night and led the Chiefs to a big win.
On the other side, Keenan Allen led the Los Angeles receivers with 6 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. Mike Williams had a disappointing game and only caught 3 of his 9 targets for 49 yards. Jalen Guyton caught the other touchdown pass from Herbert but only finished the night with 2 catches for 10 yards with that touchdown.
Austin Ekeler was questionable all weak leading up to this game after injuring his ankle in last week’s game. He did play, but they limited his usage, and he didn’t get the full workload he normally gets. Ekeler only had 12 carries for 59 yards and added 4 catches for another 23 yards, but he was able to produce for his fantasy managers with a 2-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley shared the backfield with Ekeler and Jackson ended up having more carries than Ekeler. Jackson carried the ball 13 times for 86 yards while Kelley added 7 carries for 21 yards but also had a fumble.
The Kansas City running backs were largely disappointing. Clyde Edwards-Helaire only had 9 carries for 32 yards and 2 catches for 18. Darrell Williams chipped in 5 runs for 12 yards and failed to catch his 1 target. The lone rushing touchdown for KC was a 7-yard touchdown run by the fullback Michael Burton. Burton actually almost had a second touchdown when Mahomes targeted him at the 2-yard line, but the defense sniffed it out and stuffed Burton.
Other Notes:
Jared Cook was targeted 7 times but only had 3 catches for 32 yards.
There was a scary moment in the 1st quarter when Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. dove for an endzone target and hit his head hard on the ground. He was carted off the field on a stretcher, but the Chargers gave an update later in the night that he was taken to the local hospital for further evaluation but was in stable condition. Prayers up for Parham.
That will do it for the week 15 Thursday Night Football Wrap Up. Make sure you head over to Razzball.com and check out Rudy Gamble’s Pigskinator as you get ready to set the rest of your week 15 lineup. You are always invited to follow me on Twitter @FantasyCoachJB and ask me any questions you may have. Good luck in your week 15 fantasy playoff matchups!
