Kansas City and San Diego played a game typical of their AFC West rivalry - tough and not decided until the final seconds.
"It was one of those games where whoever got the last break was going to win," Chargers coach Bobby Ross said.That break went to the Chargers when defensive end Chris Mims leaped to knock down Pete Stoyanovich's 47-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds left, preserving San Diego's 22-19 win over the previously undefeated Chiefs.
Before Mims' big play, though, there was plenty of action from Junior Seau.
Still bothered by a strained hamstring, the five-time Pro Bowl linebacker intercepted Steve Bono twice and had 12 tackles and one sack.
Seau also repositioned Mims on Stoyanovich's attempt to tie the game.
"If Junior Seau isn't one of the best to ever play the game, I don't know who is," Ross said. "I don't think he gets the credit he deserves."
Sunday he did.
"He plays like that all the time," said Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer. "He's the leader of what they do, not only for the defense, but maybe their whole football team."
At one point, Seau limped off the field. He was back, though.
"If I have four gears, I'm just kicking in third," Seau said.
Ross, who got the Chargers to the Super Bowl in 1994 and won a national championship at Georgia Tech in 1990, said it was one of the most important wins he's been associated with.
"It has to do with our field leadership," Ross said. "We were getting it from our veterans. That's why we didn't wilt."
At one point late in the game, the Chargers had to seek volunteers off the bench for kickoff coverage duty due to injuries.
The Chargers, Chiefs and Denver Broncos are tied atop the AFC West at 4-1. The Chiefs had won their previous 12 divisional games dating to the final game of 1994.
It was only the third time this decade the Chargers beat the Chiefs in San Diego, including a 17-0 playoff win in 1992.
The Chargers were eager to atone for last year's 29-23 overtime loss at Kansas City in which they let the Chiefs tie it on a remarkable drive in the closing minute of regulation.
Seau's second interception came with 5:50 left and led to John Carney's fifth field goal, a 33-yarder to set the final score with 3:17 to go.
Then, with the Chiefs facing third-and-4 from the 50, Kansas City picked up a blitz by Seau, but he found his way through to sack Bono for a 6-yard loss.
The Chiefs got the ball back when Tracy Simien recovered Leonard Russell's fumble. Bono got the Chiefs to the Chargers' 29, and Mims then leaped from the middle of the line and blocked Stoyanovich's kick with his forearm.
"I got moved over by Junior right before the snap," Mims said. "That's the biggest play of my career."
Mims also had the first of three San Diego sacks.
Seau's first interception also came on a blitz. Repelled at the line, Seau dropped into coverage and caught the ball after safety Rodney Harrison tipped it. That led to Carney's second field goal and a 6-0 lead.
Darrien Gordon, who fumbled on a punt return in the second quarter, gave the Chargers a 16-9 lead with an 81-yard punt return with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
The teams had traded six field goals when Gordon made his runback. He caught Louie Aguiar's punt at the 19. A Chiefs player got an arm around Gordon's ankle, but he stayed on his feet, turned the corner and raced down the right sideline. He began high-stepping at the 10, and Aguiar leveled him just as he crossed the goal line.
"It was a big return, because some of the guys were tired and we had a few penalties," Gordon said.
The Chiefs tried a fake punt a play earlier and Aguiar would have gotten a first down, but Donnell Bennett was called for holding.
The momentum after Gordon's return didn't last long, as the Chiefs scored two plays later.
Marcus Allen rook a first-down swing pass and turned it into his longest gain since 1984, 59 yards to the San Diego 3. Bono hit third-string tight end Reggie Johnson on the next play to forge a 16-16 tie.
Carney had kicks of 33, 38, 44, 39 and 33 yards, the second time this year he's had five field goals. Stoyanovich connected from 44, 26, 25 and 32 yards before missing at the end.
San Diego's Stan Humphries was a shaky 19-for-41 for 238 yards, and didn't throw a TD pass for the first time this season. Tony Martin, the AFC's leading receiver, had four catches for 48 yards.
Bono was 25-for-54 for 280 yards.