Just one play earlier it looked like Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert couldn’t even run.
In obvious pain after being hit hard twice, including a brutal shot from Mike Danna, a wincing Herbert had a chance to scramble for an easy first down.
But, seemingly proving just how badly hurt he was, Herbert passed up the opportunity and threw it away. The Chargers looked gone.
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Herbert though staged a miraculous recovery to then somehow find DeAndre Carter for a 35-yard pick up on a 4th-and-1 before then hitting Josh Palmer in the endzone.
In the end Los Angeles left it too late, going down 27-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was incredible they made it that close given the pain Herbert looked to be in.
It was also only more proof of justice how good the 24-year-old is, standing tall in the big moments even after throwing a 99-yard pick-6.
Herbert went for X-Rays on his ribs after the game, completing 33 of 48 attempted passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.
Meanwhile, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 24 of 35 for 235 yards and two touchdowns.
Both Herbert and Mahomes were tested on Friday, with the latter throwing three picks that were eventually negated.
Mahomes pulled the Arizona Cardinals defense apart with surgical precision last week, throwing for five touchdowns in a dominant 44-21 win.
This, however, was always going to be a far sternest test against a Super Bowl contender that had made even more improvements to its already solid defense over the off-season.
JC Jackson was one of the biggest additions for the Chargers, giving Brandon Staley a genuine top-shelf option at cornerback.
Meanwhile, Travis Kelce may be Mahomes’ favorite target with Tyreek Hill now a Dolphin, but Kansas City’s star tight-end himself had a challenging match-up against Derwin James.
In two games last year when James was off the field, Kelce exploded for 12 catches on 14 targets for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
With James on the field though it was a different story, with five catches on 10 targets for 68 yards and no touchdowns.
Kelce was able to get a few decent looks in the first half, finishing with three receptions for 33 yards, but the Kansas City offense as a whole struggled to get moving early.
Instead, it was the Chargers who dominated the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead as Mike Williams stood up in the absence of Keenan Allen, who was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Williams had five catches for 76 yards in the first quarter, including one big play in the lead-up to the second, which opened with Herbert finding Zander Horvath for a one-yard touchdown.
It was only a matter of time before the Chiefs’ offense started to heat up, with Mahomes moving the chains with a 30-yard bullet for Mecole Hardman and a 19-yard pass for Kelce later in the quarter.
Kansas City eventually hit the board with some Mahomes magic as the quarterback found Jerick McKinnon with a silky sidearm pass to make it 10-7 before the halftime break.
With the touchdown pass Mahomes (1,588) moved past Alex Smith (1,5870) for the third-most completions in franchise history.
But again it was the Chargers who came out hot in the third quarter to silence the crowd at Arrowhead, with Williams once again stepping up to come up with the big play.
The wide receiver had plenty of work to do, hauling in a 15-yard pass from Herbert with just one hand as Los Angeles went up 17-7.
The Chargers were really making Mahomes work to get into his usual rhythm and looked to have picked off the Chiefs quarterback, only for it to have been ruled an incomplete pass.
It proved a key turning point as Mahomes and the Chiefs went on a seven-drive play down the field, ending with Justin Watson hitting Jackson for a 41-yard touchdown to make it 17-14.
Kansas City then slotted a field goal just after the fourth quarter opened to level the scores before Jaylen Watson picked off Herbert to race 99 yards down the field for a pick-6.
In the end, even some late Herbert heroics were not enough for the Chargers, who fell short 27-24, although an easier match-up with the Jacksonville Jaguars awaits next week.
The 2-0 Chiefs, meanwhile, face the Indianapolis Colts.
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