Patrick Mahomes may no longer be enough to cover up a mounting list of the Kansas City Chiefs’ flaws. The quarterback’s late-game heroics have saved the Chiefs time after time for years now, helping them to an NFL-record 17 straight one-possession wins dating back to late in the 2023 season. But on Friday night, it was the Los Angeles Chargers—yes, the franchise known for Chargering away winnable games in the fourth quarter—that finally snapped that streak, with a 27-21 win in São Paulo, Brazil.
Disaster struck early for Kansas City. Already without top receiver Rashee Rice, who is serving a six-game suspension to start the season, the Chiefs lost second-year receiver Xavier Worthy to a shoulder injury when Travis Kelce unintentionally leveled Worthy on a crossing route, knocking Worthy out of the game with a right shoulder injury. Worthy figured to be a big part of the Chiefs’ game plan against the Chargers—a gadget player who could create on slants and screens, a speedster who was the Chiefs’ best deep threat. Without him, the Chiefs had few explosive options left. Every big play the Chiefs did produce the rest of the night was the result of Mahomes doing crazy Mahomesian stuff.
Nearly half of Hollywood Brown’s 99 receiving yards came on a single 49-yard catch on a fourth-and-7. Chargers rusher Khalil Mack blew past Kansas City’s second-year guard Kingsley Suamataia, and Mahomes somehow scrambled to his right and slung the ball deep to a wide-open Brown, who had snuck behind the defense. Mahomes also threw a dime to Tyquan Thornton for a 38-yard gain, and found a wide-open Kelce for a 37-yard touchdown. Outside those isolated bursts, the Chiefs offense was stuck in neutral, stitching together drives with quick passes and short runs that rarely stressed the Chargers defense.
Plus, Kansas City kept making matters worse for themselves with bonehead penalties. After averaging just 5.5 penalties per game last season, which tied for the fourth-fewest in the league, the Chiefs committed 10 in their season opener—six from their two offensive tackles alone. Rookie Josh Simmons was flagged twice for false starts. Veteran right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who led the league in penalties in 2023 and finished among the top three last year, committed two false starts along with two holding penalties. Kelce even bumped his helmet into Taylor and screamed in Taylor’s face after the lineman was called for his fourth penalty.
Yet, despite all the dysfunction around Mahomes on offense, Kansas City’s defense was worse. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit had no answers for Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Spagnuolo had to design exotic blitzes and send extra rushers to create any pressure against a Chargers offensive line that was without its best player in Rashawn Slater, while the Chiefs zone coverage was soft behind the struggling front four. Defenders ran into one another on multiple plays, including a collision between Drue Tranquill and Trent McDuffie on Herbert’s opening-drive touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston. The Chiefs defense looked just as hapless on Friday as it did back in February, when it was steamrolled by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Herbert was calm, decisive, and ruthlessly efficient, completing 25 of 34 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. It was possibly the most comfortable he’s ever looked against a Chiefs defense, even in the game’s biggest moments. Herbert beat a patented Spags blitz with a 23-yard touchdown strike to Johnston to extend the Chargers lead to nine points in the fourth quarter. And when Kansas City’s defense needed one last stop to give Mahomes a final shot, Herbert iced the game himself, scrambling untouched for a first down on third-and-14. Chiefs star pass rusher Chris Jones let Herbert break contain, with all of his teammates locked in man coverage behind him. The YouTube broadcast caught Tranquill yelling at Jones after the play.
It’s going to be hard not to overreact to this sloppy and dysfunctional performance from the Chiefs. Even the special teams unit was hit-and-miss. Harrison Butker nailed a 59-yard field goal after rushing onto the field in a zero-timeout situation at the end of the first half, but he later missed an extra point attempt. They need answers fast.
The Chiefs are home underdogs next week against the Eagles, the same team that ran them off the field in February’s Super Bowl. Dak Prescott and company had early offensive success against the Eagles defense in Week 1, but without Rice and most likely without Worthy, the Chiefs clearly don’t have the skill talent to take advantage of Philadelphia’s weak CB2 situation like the Cowboys did. Plus, barring any more spit from Jalen Carter, the Eagles should have their best defensive player back in the lineup. Philadelphia’s front four could be an even tougher test for Kansas City than what they saw from the Chargers.
If the Chiefs wind up falling to 0-2, it will be hard not to at least blow the dust off the panic button for Kansas City. Since 1990, fewer than 12 percent of teams that start 0-2 have gone on to make the postseason. Maybe Kansas City is not fully cooked yet—with a healthy Mahomes, that doesn’t feel possible—but the Chiefs clearly have a lot of fires to put out before the season goes up in flames.
