The Kansas City Chiefs were able to complete their series sweep of the Los Angeles Chargers with a 19-17 win on Sunday Night Football. Chiefs kicker Matt Wright kicked a last-second game-winning field goal to help the Chiefs clinch their ninth consecutive AFC West championship.
When asked if he was frustrated that the game slipped away at the end, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh instead elected to give credit to the Chiefs for their preparation and grit.
“It was two really good teams. Nothing but respect for the Chiefs and the way they play, their physicality, their confidence, their belief in the system and each other,” Harbaugh said during his postgame press conference immediately after the loss. “We were trying to better that in all four of those areas, and we came up two points short of that.”
Harbaugh then described the game in KC as a “battle.” This led to him discussing the defensive side of the ball.
“It was a football fight for both sides,” Harbaugh described. “I thought the defense played, no quit in them, really well. Once again in the red zone. Getting pressure, getting stops, getting three-and-outs. I just thought they played well.”
rise and fight again pic.twitter.com/Syz7XChdjC
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) December 9, 2024
The interesting thing about Jim Harbaugh is that he is a motivator. He always has been. It’s what made him successful in San Francisco. It’s what made him a winner at Michigan. And, it’s what will make him an effective head coach in Los Angeles. The way that he started his press conference, following a devastating last-second road loss to a hated divisional rival, was with some poetry.
“I reminded the team of Sir Andrew Barton,” Harbaugh explained. “‘Fight on my men,’ Sir Andrew said. ‘I’m a little wounded but not slain. I’ll lay down and bleed a while and will rise to fight again.'”
It’s hard to deny that Jim Harbaugh has had a fairly good start to his second stint as a head coach in the NFL. After all, the Chargers currently sit as the sixth seed in the AFC playoff picture. It’s also worth noting that 40% of the Chargers’ losses have come at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, who are inevitable (as Thanos would say). If they can get the KC monkey off their back, then the Chargers could easily be a Super Bowl-winning team. Unfortunately, the monkey their trying to get off their back is King Kong-sized.
