Arrowhead Pride
The Kansas City Chiefs opened their 2025 season 0-1 after a 27-21 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers in an International Series game in Brazil.
It started when tight end Travis Kelce ran into wide receiver Xavier Worthy’s shoulder as they attempted underneath crossing routes on Kansas City’s third offensive play. Worthy was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury, making the wide receiver corps even more shorthanded.
But it didn’t stop there. Wide receiver Hollywood Brown dropped passes. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes badly overthrew open wideouts on the deep passes the team was hoping to emphasize in 2025. The defense couldn’t get any pressure against Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert, who completed 7 of 9 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Chargers led 10-0 before the Chiefs managed any kind of offense — ironically by channeling their 2024 season, dinking and dunking down the field on a 16-playd drive that took almost nine minutes of the clock. Running back Kareem Hunt converted two fourth downs on the drive before it ended with a 35-yard field goal with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Wideout Tyquan Thornton returned the game’s opening kickoff 42 yards. Although the gain was substantially reduced by a penalty, it gave the unit some momentum. Rookie defensive back Nohl Williams downed Matt Araiza’s second punt of the evening at the Los Angeles 2-yard line, which led to Kansas City’s first defensive stop.
But all of that paled in comparison to what happened at the end of the first half. Getting the ball with 40 seconds left, Mahomes found Thornton for a 38-yard gain. Out of timeouts, Mahomes spiked the ball to stop the clock. Following back-to-back false start penalties, it looked like the team was going to waste a golden opportunity.
But after a pass to Noah Gray gained only three yards on a third-and-15 with 17 seconds left, the special teams unit was ready. With the clock running, the field goal unit sprinted onto the field, managing to snap placekicker Harrison Butker’s 59-yard attempt as the clock hit zero — and Butker narrowed the Chargers’ halftime lead to 13-6.
It’s not as if there weren’t special teams miscues, however. Later, Butker missed an extra point — and then a two-point conversion after the next score failed to make up the difference.
Kansas City’s quarterback repeatedly scrambled for first downs — and also ran for a touchdown. On two different occasions, he found JuJu Smith-Schuster with amazing off-platform throws. The second of these took place on a third-and-5 in the fourth quarter. Mahomes was going down, but managed to stretch himself horizontally — and while in the air, flip the ball in between three Los Angeles defenders into the veteran wideout’s hands. The first down kept the drive alive — and Mahomes...
