SÃO PAULO — The social-media influencers confirmed up in droves Friday for the marquee matchup between the Chargers and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, solely the NFL’s second regular-season sport performed within the Southern Hemisphere.
They snapped selfies, did dances, tried to high one another with eye-catching outfits and elbowed for the highlight.
As for Justin Herbert? He was Mr. Beast.
The Chargers quarterback dissected the Chiefs with surgical precision, throwing for 318 yards and three landing passes in a 27-21 toppling of the defending AFC champions — a franchise the Chargers hadn’t crushed since 2021.
Two of these landing passes went to Quentin Johnston.
“He makes my job so much easier,” Herbert stated. “He just makes plays.”
Seven of the earlier eight conferences between these AFC West foes had been determined by one rating, and the Chiefs gained six of these.
Assisted by a smothering protection, Herbert upstaged Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes earlier than a worldwide viewers. It marked the primary time the NFL streamed a regular-season sport totally free on YouTube, with earlier video games streamed on subscription-only websites or behind a paywall.
Chargers security Derwin James Jr. celebrates after beating the Chiefs in Brazil on Friday evening.
(Doug Benc / Related Press)
The league was breaking new floor and so had been the Chargers, who had misplaced seven in a row to Kansas Metropolis and had waited for months to scrub away the style of a bitter first-round playoff loss to Houston.
However no lead is secure with the Chiefs, who led the league with 11 come-from-behind victories final season and had gained an NFL-record 17 one-score video games in a row.
Even when Kansas Metropolis struggled mightily within the first half, the Chiefs confirmed their quick-strike capability after they scrambled with the precision of a NASCAR pit crew and got here away with a 59-yard subject objective because the clock expired.
Simply because the Chargers needed to place their disappointing playoff efficiency behind them, the Chiefs needed to get out from beneath the darkish cloud of a blowout Tremendous Bowl loss to Philadelphia.
Kansas Metropolis didn’t simply lose the sport but in addition misplaced speedy receiver Xavier Worthy on the third snap of the sport when he left with a shoulder damage, towel draped over his head. He was harm when he collided with teammate Travis Kelce.
Rumors had been rampant heading into the sport that Kelce’s fiancee, pop star Taylor Swift, would attend the sport. There was no indication she was on web site.
