LOS ANGELES – It ended the only way a game played just a couple miles from Hollywood could.
Marcus Peters, traded away by the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason, intercepted the boy-wonder quarterback to all but seal the Los Angeles Rams' 54-51 win Monday night in the third-highest-scoring regular season game in NFL history.
Mahomes used his otherworldly arm strength to fling the ball down the field in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but it landed right in Peters arm.
Clinging to a three-point lead, the Rams (10-1) couldn't capitalize on the ensuing drive and gave the Chiefs one more chance to score with 50 seconds to play.
But again, Mahomes (33 of 46, 478 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions, two lost fumbles) tried to fling the ball down the field. And again, it was picked off, this time by safety Lamarcus Joyner with 13 seconds to play.
So often, the so-called game of the year can't live up to the hype.
This one did.
"It was one of the most competitive games I've been a part of," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "It was just a competitive game with a lot of high-caliber football in all three phases."