Chiefs' comeback attempt falls short against AFC West foe in week one
Justin Herbert torches the Chiefs defense, proved too much to overcome.
The flight home from São Paulo, Brazil, will feel even longer than 15 hours for the Chiefs. For the second time in quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ career, Kansas City began the season 0-1.
The Chiefs fell behind quickly after the Los Angeles Chargers got off to a quick 10-0 lead. Kansas City was forced to punt the ball on its first three possessions.
“I’ve got to make sure I get my team in a better state there coming out, playing with more emotion,” head coach Andy Reid told reporters. “We were a little flat that first half, and that cost us.”
Reid and company made a valiant effort to come back, but ultimately fell short, losing to the Chargers 27-21 on the heels of a stellar performance from quarterback Justin Herbert.
The game, or at least the plans for it, was doomed from the start. Wide receiver Xavier Worthy (shoulder) exited the game and was quickly ruled out after a collision with tight end Travis Kelce on the game's initial third-down attempt.
Reid said after the game that they will know more about the status of Worthy’s shoulder when the team arrives back in Kansas City.
It took until the Chiefs' opening drive in the second half to find the end zone, meaning it took them over 30 minutes of football to figure out life without their main wide receiver.
It was Mahomes' legs that provided a shot in the arm for the team. He displayed some physicality in some of them and also ran one in for a touchdown while fully extending for the front-right pylon.
That was the first touchdown of the season for Kansas City. It seemed headed for a tie game at 13 apiece before Harrison Butker missed the extra point. That 13-12 deficit was one they were never able to overcome.
Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster were the key cogs to the offense following the Worthy injury and with Rashee Rice suspended for the first six games of the season.
It was those two that provided the offense the juice it needed to attempt to get back in the game. Brown finished the day with 10 catches for 99 yards, while Smith-Shuster was second on the team with five catches for 55 yards.
“I thought Tyquan (Thornton) and Hollywood and JuJu did a great job of filling some of those roles,” Mahomes told reporters. “That’s someone (Worthy) that’s a huge part of our game plan and someone that we’re counting on to go out there and make plays against some of the man coverage that they played. I thought guys did a good job kind of stepping up in those roles. But you could tell it took us a little bit to get going.”
Herbert did whatever he wanted all night against a Chiefs defense that could not stop a nose bleed through the air. The sixth-year quarterback was 25-for-34, good for 318 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for 16 first downs, compared to Mahomes’ nine.
How Herbert really killed the Chiefs was his execution on third downs. The Chargers finished over 53 percent on money downs, with the Kansas City defense hardly ever coming up with a stop when they needed it the most.
It was eye-opening how much a Jim Harbaraugh and Greg Roman-led offense committed to the pass.
“I thought Jim had a great plan there, he and his staff,” Reid told reporters. “And they executed, and their underneath game was good, possession throws were good. They didn’t really hit too many deep ones. But the ones that, that intermediate range, I thought they did a nice job with.”
Herbert also hurt defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit with his legs. None hurt worse than his final 19-yarder.
A sack by linebacker Drue Tranquill, his second of the evening, put the Chargers in a third and 14, with the clock stopped and still 14 seconds remaining before the two-minute warning.
With a stop, Mahomes was going to get the ball back with two minutes and a six-point deficit.
Chris Jones, working against Trey Pipkins III, made penetration, but he neglected to keep contain along the edge of the pocket. When he made a move inside, Herbert broke to the right of the pocket and streaked down the sidelines before sliding in bounds to seal the game.
“The tackle jumped me,” Jones told reporters. “I think we were even -- two 3s and two 5s (techniques). And just should have stayed outside. I blame me. Could have pass-rushed better, could have had a better pass rush, could have contained better. I blame myself.”
Coming into the game, many assumed that the Chargers' game plan would be to pound the rock. Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris only racked up 16 carries total, however.
The Chiefs' run defense was stout, only allowing those two to accumulate 53 yards on the ground.
Defensive end George Karlaftis also recorded a sack, but the pass rush only hit Herbert four times. He got the ball out quickly when he wanted to, but he appeared to have all day to throw against the Chiefs' pass rush.
All of Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Tyler Conklin had 50 or more yards receiving. The leaky defense led to safety Chamarri Conner leading the Chiefs in tackles, with 10.
“I think this is a learning point for us as a team, also more particular on the defense,” Jones told reporters. “It’s a lot of running points we can learn and grow from. First game of the season, I’m quite sure we can watch the film, make some corrections and we’ll be better next week.”
The Chiefs did not get the result they wanted, but there were some good signs, especially in the second half. Kansas City did get some explosives on tape.
Mahomes had three passes go for over 30 yards after just tallying 16 of those all of last season. Brown caught a 49-yard pass, which led to a field goal that put them within six at the end of the game.
“We hit some, obviously, but we missed some as well,” Mahomes told reporters. “So, if I can be better there, hitting some of those deep shots, it opens up the rest of the offense. So we hit a couple of them, so that’s cool. But it wasn’t enough to win the football game.”
Newcomer Tyquan Thornton caught a 38-yarder, which also led to an impressive Butker 59-yard fire drill field goal as the entire special teams unit had to rush onto the field to kick it with a second left as the first half expired.
Kelce’s big touchdown was the other one. The 13-year veteran nearly tied the game with just more than eight minutes to go in the third quarter, hauling in a 37-yard touchdown pass, which was one of his two catches.
The two-point conversion attempt to Noah Gray was batted down, however. With just over 12 minutes to go in the game, the Chiefs were down 18-20 at that point.
Mahomes wound up with 258 yards passing after being held well under 100 heading into halftime. He threw for one touchdown and zero interceptions. Neither team turned the ball over all evening.
He registered a pretty angry run on a first down along the sidelines, where he mowed over cornerback Donte Jackson. The quarterback led the team in rushing with 57 yards, while Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt took five carries each, totaling just 41 yards.
Mahomes also displayed some magic in last night’s opener. While getting hit and parallel to the ground, he flipped one up to Smith-Schuster for a magician-like pass to convert a third and medium.
His second wizardly throw was the deep one to Brown, where he was rolling to his right following a quick loss along the O-line, as he threw it across his body, nearly 50 yards down through the air.
The biggest storyline coming into the game was whether or not the revamped left side of the offensive line would hold up. While the pocket was not perfect, Mahomes was only sacked twice.
Mahomes was asked after the game how he felt about the offensive line in the first game following the Joe Thuney era.
“I thought they did a pretty good job,” Mahomes told reporters. “Some of the games and stuff, the D-line stunts, I think, got them a couple times. I thought they did a good job and they battled. That’s really all you can ask for, is the battle. Joe is a Hall of Famer. He’s someone who will have a gold jacket. These young guys are talented and they have a chance to be really, really good. I thought they did a good job against a good defensive line. But we’re going to keep pushing them to be even better and better as we go throughout the season.”
If there were two other areas where the Chiefs really suffered, it was their red zone efficiency and penalties. The defending AFC Champs went 1-for-3 in that area and accumulated 10 penalties and 71yards worth of them.
“We’ve got to clean up some of the penalties that we had, especially in crucial situations as you get ready to go in and potentially score,” Reid told reporters. “And so we’ve got to take care of that. I expect more from our guys than that. And then there’s some little mistakes here and there that we’ll take care of too.”
The Chiefs now have nine days to clean it up and it will not be an easy opponent to work the kinks out on.
The team that just beat them down 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX is coming to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in week two. The Philadelphia Eagles are 1-0 on the season after defeating the Dallas Cowboys 24-20 in week one.
“It’s not going to be any easier,” Mahomes told reporters. “That’s a good football team that we’re playing against next week. I think we should have a great week of practice, come in with the right mindset. The leaders on the team need to step up. When we step up on that football field we’ve got to bring it, because it will takes our best in order to find a way win against that team.”
