Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
And again, you're LESS likely to get a stop against Mahomes if you kick the FG.
By punting, if the Chiefs are facing 3rd and 5 at their own 35, if they don't convert 3rd down they'll punt on 4th. So you're not even having to play run really because you aren't terribly concerned they'll go for it that deep in their own territory on 4th.
But if you kick a FG and you're facing them on 3rd and 5 at their own 35, they could still hand the damn thing off knowing that they're going for it on 4th. So now you have to protect more against that and maybe Hill breaks free (again).
A FG for the Chargers in that scenario does almost NOTHING for them. They're better served trying to pin the Chiefs deep, hope you force the stop and then get the ball back when a FG WILL win you the game. By getting the ball first and ensuring that only a TD can keep the ball out of Mahomes hands, they were in a tough spot.
With a 30% chance of cutting their own throats, it's EASY to see why they punt it away. They just didn't have the firepower to assume that picking up that 1st was simply the first step towards the inevitable TD drive. And the likely scenarios put in place by a mere FG didn't do much to help their situation at all.
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But maybe you are forgetting there is only 10 minutes in OT so if they go down and kick the FG there is probably not much time left.