The Chargers were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-17, on Monday Night Football in Mexico City, despite recording 438 total yards and limiting Patrick Mahomes to 182 yards passing and a single touchdown.
On the opening series, the Chargers moved the ball efficiently, with Rivers throwing for 68 yards on a perfect 4-for-4. A 37-yard reception by Austin Ekeler brought the Chargers to the Chiefs' 12-yard line, but the Bolts were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Mike Badgley.
The successful kick gave the Chargers a 3-0 lead with 9:31 left in the first quarter and culminated a nine-play, 68-yard drive, that took 5:29 to complete.
On Kansas City's first possession, Mahomes completed just one of five passes, and the Chiefs punted after six plays.
The Bolts began the next drive with three-straight Melvin Gordon runs for a total of 33 yards, including a powerful 21-yard rush to the right.
However, the series ended with a missed 40-yard field goal by Badgley that sailed wide right.
On third and seven for the Chiefs, Mahomes evaded the pass rush and ran 24 yards to his own 42. Two plays later, safety Rayshawn Jenkins came down with an acrobatic interception to give the Chargers the ball at their own 29-yard line.
Rivers and Keenan Allen connected for a 30-yard pass to the Kansas City 26 to open the second quarter.
However, two plays later, the ball was hit out of Rivers' right hand by Frank Clark into Derrick Nnadi's hands for the defensive tackle's first career interception.
The Chiefs then went three-and-out for the first time in the game.
On the sixth play of the Chargers drive, Rivers was intercepted by safety Tyrann Mathieu, who brought the ball to the Bolts' 6-yard line. On the following play, running back LeSean McCoy promptly ran the ball into the end zone. After the Harrison Butker extra point, the Chiefs took a 7-3 lead with 8:45 remaining in the half.
The Chargers' ensuing drive featured a 26-yard reception by Mike Williams and an 18-yard run by Ekeler.
Badgley capped the nine-play, 67-yard drive with his second field goal of the game, a 26-yarder that cut the Bolts deficit to 7-6 with 5:01 left in the quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Chargers linebacker Thomas Davis pushed a mid-air Travis Kelce out of bounds to force an incompletion on a third-down pass from Mahomes, making the Chiefs settle for a field goal attempt. After Butker made the 41-yarder, the Chiefs took a 10-6 lead with 1:43 remaining in the half.
Down the other end of the field, Rivers completed four passes to his running backs for 57 yards. After a pair of L.A. penalties, Rivers' 14-yard pass to Ekeler brought the Bolts back into field goal range. With no timeouts remaining in the half, the Chargers rushed to the line and Rivers was able to spike the ball with one second left.
Badgley capitalized on the opportunity, drilling the 49-yard attempt with time expiring in the half. At halftime, the Chargers trailed by a point, 10-9.
In the half, Rivers passed for 229 yards, with the Chargers dominating the Chiefs in total yards (312 to 109) and time of possession (20:21 to 9:39).
The Chiefs began the second half with a 75-yard drive that ended in a 6-yard touchdown run by Darrel Williams and ensuing extra point, extending Kansas City's lead to 17-9 with 9:29 to go in the third quarter.
The Bolts then went three-and-out for their first time in the game.
With 4:56 left in the third, Mahomes found Kelce in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. Butker's extra point made the score 24-9.
The next score of the game came when Rivers completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Allen with 1:44 to go in the quarter.
The TD was followed by a successful 2-point conversion pass from Rivers to Hunter Henry in the back of the end zone.
This cut the Chargers' deficit to seven points, 24-17. The six-play, 75-yard drive took just 3:12 to complete.
The Bolts then stopped the Chiefs, forcing them to punt after five plays.
Los Angeles could not take advantage, with its drive also ending in a punt.
The Bolts took over possession at their own 8-yard line with 8:05 to play in the contest and trailing by seven points.
After the Chargers went three-and-out, the Chiefs also went three-and-out, leading to a punt on the fifth-straight series of the game.
The Bolts took over with 4:30 remaining in the game on their own 17-yard line, but Rivers threw his third interception on the third play of the drive. On the Chiefs' drive, Melvin Ingram recorded the Chargers' first sack of the game on a crucial third down, forcing Kansas City to punt directly after the two-minute warning.
The Bolts took over with 1:53 to play on their 9-yard line. On fourth and four, Rivers extended the game with a 10-yard pass to Henry. On third and 15 at the Chargers' 25, Rivers gave the Bolts another lease on life by completing a 50-yard pass to Williams, which advanced the Bolts to the K.C. 25-yard line.
After an 11-yard pass to Ekeler moved the Bolts to the Chiefs' 14, Rivers spiked the ball with 24 seconds left. On the next play, however, Rivers was intercepted in the end zone to subvert the Bolts' hopes of sending the contest to overtime. After Mahomes kneeled, the game was officially over.
In the loss, Ekeler caught eight passes for 108 yards, while Rivers threw for 353 yards and a touchdown but also had four interceptions.
Jenkins' pick of Mahomes marked just the second interception thrown by the NFL's reigning Most Valuable Player this season. Mahomes' 72.6 passer rating in the game was also the third-worst of the star's 26-game career.
The Chargers fell to 4-7, as they head into their bye week. Next, the Bolts will face the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, December 1 at 1:25 p.m. PT.
Take a look through live-action photos from Monday Night Football as the Bolts take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
