Chiefs def. Chargers: Recap & analysis (2024)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, posted huge numbers to help their team build a lead in the first half of its Sunday afternoon matchup against the Los Angles Chargers. That proved to be enough as the Chiefs held on for a 31-17 win. Here’s what you need to know:

• Mahomes threw for 321 of his 424 yards and three of his four touchdown passes in the first half. This marks Mahomes’ second career half with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns (also 2019 Week 2 at Raiders), most in the NFL since his first season as a starter in 2018.
• Kelce tallied 143 of his 179 yards — the second most the tight end has ever had in a game — in the first half along with the 50th touchdown reception he’s caught from Mahomes.
• Kelce’s 12 catches also matched a career high.

Read more here.

--

Need tickets? Here you can find the best deals to see your favorite NFL team.

For almost a decade, their divisional rivals have schemed, plotted and made changes — at head coach, quarterback and other positions — to put an end to their dominance.

The Kansas City Chiefs, though, keep thwarting their AFC West foes — the Los Angeles Chargers, the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Raiders — by continuing to win. And win. And win.

Sunday’s battle between the Chiefs and the Chargers was the latest example, an outcome that felt familiar for both teams: a Chiefs’ 31-17 victory.

Read more here.

At the NFL combine in 2022, Brandon Staley was answering a question about the value of playing with two deep safeties when he offered an interesting personal insight on zone coverages.

“If you guys have seen anything the last five years with these quarterbacks, it’s if there’s a bunch of air in the coverage, they’re going to find it,” Staley said then. “You put a bunch of air in the coverage, you’ll wake up and they’ll have 80 percent, 85 percent completion for like 300, 400 (yards). And with their mobility, playing zone is the worst thing to play because you’re not connected, and then they’re going to find it.”

How prescient.

In the first half of Sunday’s 31-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Los Angeles Chargers played predominantly zone against one of the best zone-beating tandems in NFL history, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. And Staley’s defense put enough air in those coverages to fill up every balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Wake up: Mahomes finished with 424 yards passing on 76 percent completion.

Read more here.

Following Sunday’s four-touchdown performance, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has now thrown a touchdown pass in 29 consecutive games. It’s the longest active streak in the NFL and two shy of matching his career high (31 straight from 2019-21).

Mahomes and Drew Brees are the only players with multiple streaks of 29-plus games with a TD pass this century.

Fantasy managers who have Patrick Mahomes on rosters have been a bit let down, as Mahomes had only one game with 20+ points in the first six weeks of the season, but that mood has changed today as Mahomes has racked up a season-high 34.06 points against the Chargers.

Kansas City started Week 7 as one of the worst teams in the league in TruMedia’s special team expected points added (STEPA) metric that gauges the relative scoreboard impact of special team plays, as the Chiefs minus 8.28 total in that category ranked 25th in the league.

That trend will be at least somewhat reversed due to Mecole Hardman’s 50-yard punt return in the middle of the fourth quarter that will give Kansas City the chance to put this game away.

The incompletion to Travis Kelce on third-and-8 snapped a streak of 29 consecutive targets caught by Kelce.

Kelce last failed to catch a pass in which he was targeted in the first quarter of Week 5 against the Vikings.

Chargers go three-and-out but got a majestic, 65-yard punt from JK Scott that went out of bounds at the Chiefs’ 3-yard line.

Entering this week, Scott ranked 26th in the NFL in terms of punts downed inside the 20-yard line (28.6%) and had yet to have a punt downed inside the 10. He now has two downed inside the 5-yard line today.

Patrick Mahomes entered the game having rushed for a first down on 13 of his 19 scramble attempts this season (68.4%), the highest rate in the NFL.

His 23-yard scramble on third-and-16 earlier on this drive makes him 2-for-2 so far today.

Chargers RB Austin Ekeler made his return following a three-game absence last week and posted a disappointing 10.2 PPR points against Dallas.

His fantasy managers were hoping that was an anomaly due to facing a highly talented Cowboys defense and/or injury rust, but Ekeler isn’t doing any better this week, as he has tallied only 4.6 PPR points with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

Those managers also can’t be thrilled to see Joshua Kelley step up with 13.4 PPR, as Kelley looks to have more burst in his step than he did while filling in for Ekeler earlier in the season.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert has his pass batted in the air in the red zone and picked off by the Chiefs’ L’Jarius Sneed.

It was L.A.’s first red-zone turnover of the season and K.C.’s second red-zone takeaway.

The batted pass by Chiefs DE Charles Omenihu was K.C.’s NFL-high 12th of the season and the second that resulted in an interception, also the most in the NFL.

In his first game with the Chiefs, after serving a six-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy, defensive end Charles Omenihu has been an impactful contributor. Omenihu has recorded a sack, two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and a pivotal pass deflection near the line of scrimmage that led to an interception in the red zone for L'Jarius Sneed.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ is on pace to break an NFL record as his team leads the Chargers 24-17 at halftime. And he can thank his favorite target Travis Kelce for the big numbers. Here’s what you need to know:

• Mahomes threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the first half putting Norm Van Brocklin’s single-game record of 554 well within reach.
• Kelce accounted for 143 of those yards — the fifth most the tight end has ever had in a game.
• Kelce also was on the receiving end of one of Mahomes’ TD passes making that the 50th time the duo linked up for a touchdown.
• This marks Mahomes’ second career half with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns (also 2019 Week 2 at Raiders), most in the NFL since his first season as starter in 2018.

Read more here.

Brandon Staley’s defense had no answers for Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in the first half. Mahomes is 20-for-23 passing for 321 yards and three touchdowns. Kelce has caught all nine of his targets for 143 yards and a touchdown that gave the Chiefs the lead late in the first half. The Chargers only had one stop in the first half, and that came on an Asante Samuel Jr. interception on a deep shot in the second quarter. Even on that play, the Chiefs had a receiver — Marquez Valdez-Scantling — running wide open. Mahomes missed him. The coverage has been embarrassing.

The Chargers have not contained Mahomes in the pocket. They are going to lose this game if significant adjustments are not made at halftime. Justin Herbert and the offense did well to keep things close. They had the ball with the score tied at 17 late in the second quarter. Protection broke down on second down, though, as Charles Omenihu beat Trey Pipkins for a sack. Pipkins, the Chargers’ right tackle, gave up two sacks in the first half. Those led to the two Chiefs stops defensively.

Patrick Mahomes was 20-of-23 for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the first half against the Chargers.

It marks Mahomes’ second career half with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns (also 2019 Week 2 at Raiders), most in the NFL since his first season as a starter in 2018.