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In an AFC West matchup loaded with playmakers, it was a seventh-round rookie who made the biggest play Thursday night.
After trailing all game, the Kansas City Chiefs put themselves ahead for good when cornerback Jaylen Watson jumped on a Justin Herbert pass and took it the other way for a 99-yard go-ahead touchdown in a 27-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers at Thursday night football.
“The ball just went in my chest and I took it home,” Watson said after the game, where he also had four tackles and a pass breakup. “It was a surreal feeling, just so grateful and blessed to be in this position and I didn’t even know what to do when I got into the end zone, that’s why everybody just saw me standing there, but it’s a moment I will never forget.”
Taken No. 243 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Washington State, Watson earned a start Thursday for the reigning AFC West champions and, in the eighth quarter of his pro career, provided one of the biggest highlights of the young season.
“It was an important, big game,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “Great play.”
Trailing 17-7 in the third quarter, the Chiefs rallied to tie the game at 17 on a Matt Ammendola field goal. But on the ensuing drive, Herbert and the Chargers drove to retake the lead when Gerald Everett hauled in a 26-yard reception to Kansas City’s 3-yard line. Noticeably gassed on the play, Everett was not submissive and Herbert immediately went back to him. Herbert’s pass was low and Watson jumped the route before bringing the Chiefs faithfully to their feet 99 yards later.
A major highlight as it was for Watson, it was also historic. It is currently etched in the record books as the longest fourth-quarter TD by a rookie in history, according to NFL Research. It was also an indisputable game-changer, as the Chiefs’ win probability increased by 54.1 percentage points, according to Next Gen Stats.
Watson played in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, but Thursday’s primetime showdown with the rival Chargers was the setting for his first NFL start.
“I just worked on me and if the time came when someone went down, I wanted to be ready and prepared and that’s what happened,” Watson said.
The time and moment came for the 23-year-old and he shone. Still, it was a moment Watson said he predicted.
“I woke up knowing I was going to get a choice, honestly,” he said. “I just knew being a seventh rounder and having my first start I was going to be tested a lot and early and I just felt like I was going to get one today and that’s what happened.
“I was surprised. I still knew I was going to get one, but of course I was surprised when it happened.”
More than 73,000 in attendance on Thursday were completely shocked when it happened. A Kansas City squad led by league characters like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones was deadlocked with the Chargers before an unknown rookie making his first start stepped in front of a Pro Bowler’s pass and soared for a go-ahead touchdown.
“I don’t even remember what happened in the moment,” he said, “it was all just so surreal, I was just super grateful.”
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