Sportsnaut
The 2025 NFL season kicked off on Thursday night with a classic intradivision rivalry game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. It’s fair to say the NFL Kickoff Game was an interesting one. One night later, the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs put on a defensive battle in Brazil.
Let’s dive into the winners and losers from Friday night’s Chiefs vs Chargers game in Brazil, with Los Angeles pulling off the 27-21 upset over Kansas City.
A former wide receiver at Nevada, Daiyan Henley transitioned to linebacker and became a First-Team All-Pac 12 selection in 2022 with Washington State. He was selected by the Chargers with the 85th overall pick, playing only 53 defensive snaps in his rookie season. The arrival of Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter provided Henley with a new opportunity and he seized on it, recording 84 solo tackles, 8 pass deflections and 7 tackles for loss in 2024. On Friday night, we saw a linebacker who is ready to take his game to another level.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2025, see where Chiefs and Chargers land
The big play came on 3rd-and-goal when Henley chased down a scrambling Patrick Mahomes, didn’t get fooled by an evasive move and then wrapped him up for a critical sack. He also made a tackle in the backfield for a loss and was flying around the football all night. Henley might be the Chargers’ best defender this season and, at the very least, he could challenge for a Pro Bowl selection.
Kansas City came into Week 1 understanding that an efficient offense that consistently moved the chains would be difficult to have since Rashee Rice is suspended. Unfortunately, the ability of this Chiefs’ offense to deliver explosive plays took a big hit early with the Xavier Worthy injury. The 2025 first-round pick was taken out on a collision with teammate Travis Kelce. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Kansas City to rule Worthy out with the shoulder injury. Rice won’t be back until Week 7 and Worthy could miss time. If both are out, Kansas City will once again be relying on Mahomes to do the heavy lifting for a bad receiving corps.
Related: Game-by-Game Kansas City Chiefs Predictions 2025
A first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, wide receiver Quentin Johnston had a rough rookie season. As with many players in the Chargers’ locker room, a new regime provided a fresh start. He rewarded Los Angeles for giving him more of a shot in 2024, recording 711 receiving yards with 8 touchdowns. Carrying over that momentum in 2025, Johnston delivered the first touchdown of the game for Los Angeles. He also recorded 70-plus receiving yards in a game for just the fourth time in...
