Chiefs clinch AFC West title with win over Chargers, who fire their coach

Alex Smith threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the AFC West title and a first-round playoff bye with a 37-27 victory Sunday against the Chargers in perhaps the final NFL game in San Diego.

The Chiefs (12-4) clinched the division with the win and Oakland’s loss at Denver.

San Diego fired Coach Mike McCoy after the game.

Smith, who went to nearby Helix High in La Mesa, scored on a 5-yard scramble early in the second quarter to tie the game at 10 and then threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Charcandrick West later in the quarter to put the Chiefs ahead for good at 17-10. That followed the first of two interceptions by Philip Rivers that led to 10 points for the Chiefs.

Smith was intercepted once, on a deflected pass that Jahleel Addae returned 90 yards for a touchdown to pull the Chargers (5-11) to 20-17 in the third quarter.

Smith came right back and threw a 2-yard scoring pass to West, who again was wide open.

Rookie Tyreek Hill showed some fancy footwork in returning a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter.

For the second straight year, the Chargers were playing perhaps their final game in San Diego.

Chargers chairman Dean Spanos has until Jan. 15 to decide whether to move the team to the Los Angeles area and join the Rams in a stadium scheduled to open in Inglewood in 2019. A Chargers-written ballot measure seeking $1 billion in hotel occupancy taxes to help fund a new downtown stadium was soundly defeated on Nov. 8.

Last year, Spanos was in the process of trying to move the team to Carson to share a stadium with the rival Raiders. That plan was defeated by fellow NFL owners in January, but Spanos was given the option to move to L.A. if he couldn’t come up with a way to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium.

The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time” played on the PA during a break in the action after a Chiefs field goal made it 37-20 late in the game.

Also uncertain is Chargers coach Mike McCoy’s future. The Chargers have finished last in the AFC West two straight seasons and have missed the playoffs for three straight years under McCoy. McCoy is 27-37 in four seasons, with the Chargers having lost 23 of their last 32 games. They’ve also lost 13 of their last 14 AFC West games dating to late in the 2014 season.