Four takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the LA Chargers

The Kansas City Chiefs opened their AFC West tournament on Sunday, taking on the Los Angeles Chargers in a matchup between two of the game’s most talented quarterbacks.

After a confusing start to the game for Kansas City, both sides of the ball finally tied the score at halftime. Everything remained within reach in the last two periods of the game, but the guests were able to escape with a win. With her 17-10 With a win, the Chiefs moved to 4-0 on the year and opened a two-game deficit to the Chargers.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday’s game.

It’s safe to say that the Chiefs haven’t played at their best to start this season, but they’ve still achieved mostly positive results. The offensive side of the ball, in particular, is a mixed bag four weeks into the year. After scoring a touchdown and a field goal on the first drives of Weeks 1 and 2, Patrick Mahomes was sent off early last weekend. On the first offensive possession of this Sunday game, rookie fullback Carson Steele turned the ball over with a fumble.

The poor execution wasn’t all, however. Kansas City’s defense has conceded a point on every opening drive this season: three touchdowns and a field goal. An anemic Los Angeles offense marched down the field with a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive on Sunday. In three of the first four games this year, Steve Spagnuolo’s team allowed the opponent to record ten or more plays. If the Chiefs want to make things easier for themselves in the future, they’ll start with a better start.

A week ago, the Chiefs allowed a touchdown on two of their first three drives against the Atlanta Falcons. The worst thing they did after that, however, was give up a field goal to Kirk Cousins ​​and Co. Spagnuolo’s defense is far from perfect, but it has proven over the years that it should be judged on its ability to adapt over time. Sunday’s game in Los Angeles was another perfect example of this.

After the aforementioned first touchdown ball, the Chargers scored a field goal and struck four straight times. On those four drives, they ran 13 plays for a total of 10 yards. Kicker Cameron Dicker missed a field goal to start the second half. The fourth quarter began with Chris Jones pressuring Herbert, which resulted in a turnover on downs. Jones and Tershawn Wharton later helped generate pressure, and a Jones sack sent the ball back to the Chiefs. The Chargers never saw it again on offense. Kansas City’s defense is the ultimate closer.

After an already difficult start to the game, the Chiefs added insult to injury – injury to insult, actually – when wide receiver Rashee Rice went down during the Mahomes interception. The two-time MVP accidentally picked off his No. 1 target in the passing game, and the early sentiment surrounding the knee issue isn’t great. Certainly there will be more clarity in the next 24 hours, but for now it’s hard to think about how the offense will change if Rice misses time.

Entering Week 4, Rice ranked top three in the NFL in targets, receptions and receiving yards. His ability to make short and medium passes, then rotate upwards and maintain excellent contact balance cannot be replicated. Luckily for the Chiefs, two more quality players stepped up on offense (more on that in a moment). Long-term, it seems nearly impossible for Kansas City to thrive without Rice. There isn’t enough talent in the stable. For their sake, they will hope that this will not be the case.

It was a quiet start to the season for Travis Kelce, as he was targeted 12 times in Weeks 1-3 and recorded eight receptions for 69 yards. He managed to surpass that yardage total with 74 in the first half of Sunday’s game. Overall, the future Hall of Fame pass catcher finished the game with 89. Week 4 served as a clear reminder that Kelce is still capable of good statistical performances. (It was also intended to calm some of the negative discourse around him – that was always evident on the tape.)

After Rice left the game, wideout Xavier Worthy delivered perhaps the best moment of his rookie season so far. Accordingly Next Generation StatisticsHis 54-yard touchdown in the first half saw him reach over 21 miles per hour, making him the third-fastest ball carrier this year. More importantly, the 62.2 air yards the ball traveled represented the longest air distance Mahomes had covered in a game. For an offense that preached a desire to get back to depth in 2024, it was a nice start. Finally a significant hit.

Read more: How a pre-draft interview convinced Chiefs Steve Spagnuolo over Leo Chenal