Chargers vs. Chiefs: Score, Grades and Analysis

They say you never know what you have until it's gone. The Kansas City Chiefs found that out the hard way in Week 12 regarding their pass rush.

Philip Rivers completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Seyi Ajirotutu with 24 seconds remaining, and the San Diego defense held on late as the Chargers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 41-38 win over Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.

With the Chiefs struggling to maintain a pass rush with linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali injured, the Chargers offense took the ball with two timeouts and 78 yards to go with a chance to win. Rivers and co. had already torched the Kansas City defense for well over 400 total yards, proving an even more formidable foe than Peyton Manning's Broncos a week ago.

After two shaky incompletions, including a near-interception, to start the drive, Rivers again picked apart the Kansas City secondary. He converted a third down with a 12-yard pass to Antonio Gates, found Danny Woodhead on consecutive throws for 33 yards and then got a critical pass interference call on Eric Berry to take the ball all the way down to the 21-yard line.

While the Chiefs would sack Rivers on the subsequent pass attempt, he then found Ajirotutu over the top near the left sideline for the game-winning score.

Rivers finished the game with 392 yards and three touchdowns, narrowly missing his fourth 400-yard performance of the season. Ajirotutu had only two receptions in 2013 before making perhaps the biggest one of San Diego's year.

The score was the NFL season-high eighth lead change of the game and came less than a minute of game time after Alex Smith had seemingly won the contest for Kansas City. Smith completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe with 1:22 remaining to give the Chiefs a 38-34 lead.

Sunday was a banner contest for Smith, who received the brunt of the criticism following last week's loss to the Denver Broncos. Oft-maligned as a checkdown artist, Smith threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. Each of his three scores brought the Chiefs back from a deficit.

Donnie Avery proved to be Smith's biggest muse with four receptions for 91 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 7-3 lead with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. Anthony Fasano (four receptions, 21 yards) caught the other score.

Overall, the Chiefs had an above-average offensive day. Jamaal Charles rushed for 115 yards on just 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. Charles now has a career-high eight rushing touchdowns on the season, setting the mark with a one-yard jaunt to give Kansas City a 21-17 lead with 9:04 left in the third quarter.

That came on a drive where San Diego committed three defensive pass interference penalties, resulting in 41 free yards. Overall, the Chargers finished with 97 penalty yards, the third time in their last four games where unforced errors have helped put their back against the wall.

However, the Chargers overcame the penalties to break a three-game losing streak. Rivers averaged over 10 yards per attempt, completed 27 of his 39 attempts and got banner days from his skill position players. Keenan Allen looked fully recovered from his bothersome knee issues, catching nine balls for 124 yards. Danny Woodhead had 70 total yards and two touchdowns.

The Chargers (5-6) keep their hopes alive of being the No. 6 seed in the AFC with the victory. They are entrenched in a morass of teams with either five or six victories, any of which could grab the final playoff seed. Head coach Mike McCoy noted that the victory was a sign of his team's ability to persevere despite the odds being stacked against them, per Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Fullback Le'Ron McClain praised his team's efforts:

Following Kansas City's second straight loss, the Broncos temporarily move into sole possession of the AFC West lead, pending their result later Sunday against New England. Should Denver lose, Kansas City would move back into a tie with its archrival before the teams' Week 13 clash. That's an important distinction after the Broncos won the first leg of the teams' head-to-head matchup last week.

Kansas City will await the status of its two most feared pass-rushers as it prepares for a second round against Manning. Hali suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter, and Houston went down with an elbow injury late in the first half. Neither returned, taking 20 of the Chiefs' 36 sacks on the season out of the equation.

With Rivers proving just how much those two mean to the Chiefs on Sunday, it'll likely be a long week for Andy Reid and Co. while they wait.

Player Grades

Philip Rivers (QB, San Diego Chargers): A

Rivers didn't exactly face the toughest version of this Chiefs defense, but 2013 has been one heck of a rebound year for the Chargers quarterback. Coming into the season, it looked increasingly like Rivers' reputation as a franchise signal-caller was in shambles. The San Diego offensive line couldn't protect him, he couldn't avoid interceptions and a once-promising Chargers core looked to be falling apart.

It's still a process, but at least Rivers looks like he still has a ton in the tank. He was again accurate in the pocket, finding open receivers and avoiding any major mistakes. One has to wonder whether the result would have been the same had Hali and Houston been in the game to pressure him on every snap, but you can only work with what you have.

Plus, it's not like the Chiefs are immune to getting a little injury luck here and there.

Alex Smith (QB, Kansas City Chiefs): A-

It's a week-to-week process with the noted game manager. Last Sunday, it became quite obvious why so many are skeptical that Smith can lead a Super Bowl contender. This week, the former No. 1 overall pick proved that he can still fling it a bit—even if it came against San Diego's less-than-stellar secondary.

The Chiefs came out with a game plan arguably more aggressive through the air than at any other point this season. By that, I mostly mean Smith's passes traveled longer than five yards per pop. Reid trusted his quarterback to make plays on intermediate reads, and the Chargers defense obliged by opening up cavernous throwing windows.

We'll have to see whether Kansas City employs a similar strategy next week. Another loss to Denver would put the Chiefs behind the 8-ball in the AFC West and likely force them to hit the road in the opening round of the playoffs.

Smith is often seen as the squeaky wheel in Kansas City's machine, but that wasn't the case whatsoever in Week 12.

Danny Woodhead (RB, San Diego Chargers): B+

Boy, with every passing week the Patriots' decision to let Woodhead walk looks worse. While New England has struggled with injuries and looked lacking in offensive weapons throughout the season, Woodhead has emerged again as a reliable and versatile weapon out of the backfield in San Diego.

Like he once did for Tom Brady, Woodhead provides a security blanket underneath in the passing game, and it seems like no defense is ever ready when the Chargers hand him the ball. Having a player like Woodhead in the offense opens routes 10 and 15 yards down the field because the front seven has to be cognizant of where he is at all times.

Fantasy owners have already realized this, but this is a career year for Woodhead.

Jamaal Charles (RB, Kansas City Chiefs): A-

This just in: Jamaal Charles is good running the football. Explosive plays have been surprisingly few and far between from Charles in 2013, but he made up for it with the longest run of his season against the Chargers.

Still, it's the consistency that's been the most promising. Charles hasn't had a game with fewer than 74 rushing yards since Week 4, despite having a long carry of just 35 yards coming into this week. In fact, his 46-yard run was just the third time Charles has gone over the 20-yard mark. That's not necessarily a positive, but his overall success is indicative of the fewer negative carries he has had this year.

Most importantly, Charles got back into the end zone after failing to find pay dirt each of the last three weeks. The Chiefs aren't going to be able to rely on Smith to throw the ball 30 times per week or be productive when he does. For Charles to score a couple touchdowns and possibly get into a rhythm is vital for Kansas City heading into next week's clash with Denver.

What's Next?

The Chargers will finally get a reprieve from their gamut of road contests next week when they host the Cincinnati Bengals. Kansas City will also be on its home turf, but with an admittedly more difficult opponent when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos descend upon Arrowhead.

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