Kansas City 30, San Diego 27
By STEVE BRISENDINE, AP Sports Writer
October 22, 2006
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Lawrence Tynes already knew he'd have to try again, from 5 yards farther back.
He figured a little practice for the longest field goal attempt of his career wouldn't hurt.
Tynes was right.
The Kansas City kicker had a 48-yard field goal wiped out by an illegal procedure penalty, then came right back to connect on a 53-yarder with 6 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 30-27 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.
"I knew the whistle had blown, but I said, 'Let me go ahead and take a stab at it and see how the wind's blowing,"' Tynes said of his initial attempt. "I knew I was going to make the second one."
Tynes' second clutch game-winner in three weeks thwarted a comeback attempt led by another LT.
LaDainian Tomlinson figured in two fourth-quarter TD throws, one as the receiver and one as the passer, as the Chargers (4-2) came back from an early 17-point deficit to tie the game at 27-all.
Tynes atoned for missing a first-quarter field goal try and hitting the upright on an extra point attempt in the second quarter.
"I didn't say anything to him. You leave kickers alone," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "But I trusted that at the end, when it was time to kick a field goal he was going to make it. He not only made one, he made two."
The Chiefs (3-3) began the winning drive at their own 18 with 33 seconds left.
Damon Huard, making his fifth start in relief of the injured Trent Green, made up for a critical turnover by completing three passes for 52 yards. Tony Gonzalez had two catches for 37 yards on the drive, capping a six-catch, 138-yard day for the Pro Bowl tight end.
"I'm not the kind of guy who comes to the media saying, 'I'm not getting the ball.' But yeah, it's been frustrating," said Gonzalez, who came into Sunday's game with 21 catches for 187 yards. "But at the same time, they're going to start coming to me because they've got to. I've proved in the past that I can do it."
Kansas City forced turnovers on three of San Diego's first four possessions, converting two of them into touchdown passes by Huard, and led 20-3 by the 11-minute mark of the second quarter.
The Chargers tied it after Marques Harris sacked and stripped Huard and Luis Castillo recovered at the Chiefs 23, and a pass-interference call against Ty Law gave San Diego a first-and-goal at the 1.
Two plays failed to get the ball in, but on third down Tomlinson took a handoff, pulled up short and threw to Brandon Manumaleuna for the score with 5:10 to go. It was the ninth TD pass of Tomlinson's career.
Larry Johnson, held to 26 yards rushing in last week's 45-7 loss at Pittsburgh -- Kansas City's worst defeat in a non-strike year since 1984 -- ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers.
"Don't for one minute think that because he's struggled for a couple of weeks that he isn't capable," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "As I said at the time, 'Our hope is that he doesn't all of a sudden have a breakout game against us' -- and that's exactly what happened. He did have a breakout game against us."
Johnson's 11-yard TD carry put the Chiefs up 20-3, and he went in from a yard out late in the third for a 27-13 lead.
Philip Rivers' 1-yard scoring pass to Antonio Gates earlier in the third got San Diego within 20-13. And early in the fourth quarter, on fourth and 3 from the Kansas City 37, Tomlinson cut across the middle, caught Rivers' pass in space and raced down the right sideline to cut the Chiefs' lead to 27-20.
Tomlinson, held to 16 yards rushing and 16 yards receiving in the first half, finished with 66 yards rushing and 72 yards receiving. He also completed two passes for 19 yards
Tynes missed wide right from 42 yards after Jared Allen recovered Tomlinson's fumble at the San Diego 37 on the Chargers' opening drive.
But on San Diego's third possession, Sammy Knight's interception led to Huard's 11-yard TD pass to Wilson -- a backup tight end pressed into service as Kansas City's starting fullback -- for a 7-0 lead.
Allen sacked and stripped Rivers on the Chargers' next drive, and Tamba Hali's recovery at the San Diego 32 set up Huard's 21-yard pass to Eddie Kennison to make it 14-0.
"The first-half turnovers killed us," Rivers said. "The first one, I missed the pass. On the second one, I was squeezing it, but he popped the ball out of my hand."
Nate Kaeding made second-quarter field goals of 39 and 31 yards for the Chargers but hit the upright from 47 yards late in the half.
Notes
Gonzalez has caught a pass in 90 straight games, the third-longest streak all-time for tight ends. ... Since 2004, the Chargers have allowed only four 100-yard rushing games. Larry Johnson has two -- last December and Sunday. The others were Terrell Suggs of the Cleveland Browns and Curtis Martin of the New York Jets. ... The Chargers lost linebacker Shaun Phillips for four to six weeks. He hurt his right calf in the second quarter. He's the team's sack leader with six.
