Just to add a little fuel to the fire:

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No matter the choice if it didn't work out there would be complaining about not making the opposite decision.
If he went for it and didn't make it we have a short field and people are saying well if you would have punted.......
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Yep. It's a no-win situation.
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That's just what defensive focused teams do. And it nearly worked for them. Almost nobody makes kicks like Butker did yesterday. He's off a little left or right, we hand them the ball close to midfield and they're a play or two from winning the game themselves. Not saying it's what I'd do (definitely not...) but there is a logic to it.

In any case, we dodged a bullet....

Which is what championship teams do.
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When they sent out the punt unit, I told my buddy I would leave the defense on the field and play fake punt 100%. They pinned us deep with a fair catch anyway.

If I was the coach I would have gone for it. It appeared that KCs offense was picking up steam.
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Had a guy ask me that today. Why.

you gave it to PM and all the Chiefs needed was a FG to win. Yes, the d was playing well, but Bosa was done. Did he play the last 3 plays?
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When you think about it, it should've worked. They kicked it to the 20 (or maybe that was a TB, I forget). It took 13 PLAYS for the Chiefs to move that ball 40 yards. 13.

And how many kickers can even kick a ball 53 yards and consistently split the uprights? How many under the pressure of having to win the game? Then how many from 58 yards? Twice?

Probably you can count them on half a hand.

Heck, if you just changed one thing, Butker probably misses at least one of those. Maybe the one that actually counted. Percentage-wise it was probably just as good a call as going for it.
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Exactly. Nothing about it was a gimme. We're just completely spoiled by Mahomes. Expectations are a bit out of whack.
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And I believe that the Chargers should have gone for it on 4th and 1, even if it's at the 30.

If it was any other QB, outside of Mahomes, Rodgers, Wilson, and maybe Brees/Brady, I would have punted.

Fact of the matter is, the Chiefs have Mahomes and they were gaining steam on getting points on the board, I would had just said "Hell with it, go for it. You're gonna lose if you're going to punt, might as well lose going aggressive."
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So many posts that completely gloss over the fact that not only are the Chiefs blessed to have the best Quarterback in the NFL, who isn't even close to reaching his ceiling, but they also have the best kicker in the game, bar none.

Opposing coaches will have to pick their poison wisely in close games this season and even then, they're still more likely than not to lose.
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If they didn't pick it up, the game is essentially over since the Chiefs would have been in FG range instantly.

Like Megatron said, it took the Chiefs 13 plays to get it done. Going for it, given how the game had gone to that point was not a terrible call. Ever.
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Yep. It was a no-win situation for Lynn.
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I understand that. I'm also saying that, if you're punting it back to Mahomes, chances are that the game is essentially over regardless. :-)
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That's just not true. Mahomes isn't automatic. It was a 20-20 game for a reason.

You also have to figure in that had they picked it up, they still had to go the rest of the way to score. Mahomes was going to get the ball back regardless. Might as well try to flip the field.
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Yeah, but you know as well as anyone that NFL coaches don't coach like that, even in divisional games, because the margins between winning and losing are razor thin, and guys normally err on the side of caution.

If the Chargers had gone for it and not made it, only to see the Chiefs score a TD a few plays later, every talking head would be saying "Why didn't he punt?".

Even Rex Ryan and Ryan Clark agreed with Lynn's choice because that's the way they've been taught to play and coach the game.
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