Justin Herbert torches Chiefs defense as Chargers hold off Patrick Mahomes, snap 7-game losing streak vs. K.C.

Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert has always thrown one of the prettiest footballs in the NFL, and he was able to come through over and over again Friday night against the Chiefs. His poise in the pocket against a strong Kansas City defense was fantastic, and he mixed in his legs just enough when needed to avoid sacks and move the chains. 

He's very much been an eye test quarterback because his stats have been strong but the wins haven't always piled up. With more consistency from Johnston alongside McConkey and one of the best defenses in the NFL, Herbert's stock nationwide could soar. 

Defensive performance in the NFL is much more variable year to year, but Los Angeles still very much resembled the group that had the league's No. 1 scoring unit (17.7 points per game) a year ago. It had all of Mahomes' pass-catchers in the torture chamber, and even when they surrendered catches, there were no yards after catch with the exception of the Kelce touchdown. 

The Los Angeles defense receiving much more support from its offense could power the Chargers to another tier of contention in 2025. 

Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey is a strong wide receiver over the middle and underneath, but Los Angeles has long needed a big-bodied deep threat. 

Johnston, whom the Chargers front office drafted in the first round two years ago, struggled with drops in 2023 and 2024, but he was locked in Friday night. His first catch, a 33-yard gain, was an explosive play during which he was able to create after the catch. 

On both of his touchdowns, Johnston left his defender in the dust on each side of the field. His breakout could uplift the Chargers offense to much greater heights. 

Kansas City will always have a fighting chance with three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, but he doesn't have enough playmakers in the pass game who can separate on a consistent basis. Future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce turns 36-years-old in October, and he looked like it Friday night. He did break away for a 37-yard touchdown, but that was very much through clever play design and the route concepts put together by head coach Andy Reid. Kelce broke free for one other catch for 10 yards the rest of the game.

The Chiefs missed speedster Xavier Worthy, and wide receiver Rashee Rice is suspended for five more games. Kansas City also needs to lean more on the run game despite having Mahomes. Isiah Pacheco totaled 25 yards on five carries, a nice 5.0 yards per carry, but five carries just isn't enough. 

Mahomes shouldn't have to be the team's leading rusher like he was with 57 yards rushing and a touchdown on six carries. Almost all of those were scrambles, not designed runs. It may be a tough pill to swallow, but the Chiefs either need to trade for receiving help or become a more run-heavy attack. 

The Chargers' seven-game losing streak against the Chiefs is finally over thanks to Herbert's Herculean effort Friday night. No play was bigger than his 19-yard scamper on third-and-14, which allowed Los Angeles to kneel out the clock and secure the win. The Chargers win 27-21. 

Tonight may go down as the Quentin Johnston breakout game! Johnston broke free down the right side of the field for a 23-yard gain and his second touchdown of the night. That ties his career high, and now the Chargers are up nine after Kansas City's last two missed PATs. 

Patrick Mahomes' stats aren't sparkling, but he can still hit on his cross body throws.

The Kansas City Chiefs masterfully executed a fake wide receiver screen that morphed into a vertical route down the sideline for tight Travis Kelce. The route concepts confused the Chargers' secondary, which allowed Kelce to break free for a walk-in, 37-yard receiving touchdown. Kelce was notably not in the game on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, and Mahomes' throw to backup tight end Noah Gray was knocked down at the line of scrimmage. 

Los Angeles maintains a two-point edge, 20-18, with 12:04 left in the game. 

The Chargers clapped back after allowing their first touchdown of the night. Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert found recently returned wide receiver Keenan Allen, who played for the Chicago Bears in 2024, for an 11-yard touchdown on third down. Allen broke wide open in the back left corner of the end zone, and Herbert hit him in stride with ease. Los Angeles leads by eight, 20-12, at the start of the fourth quarter. 

Kansas City is within a point after Mahomes dragged the Chiefs into the end zone with an 11-yard scramble. Tight end Travis Kelce and his aging receiving core sans Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice are struggling to separate. That's why Mahomes is using his legs more and more. Twenty six of Mahomes' 52 yards rushing came on the Chiefs quarterback's latest two scrambles. Kicker Harrison Butker missed his ensuing extra point wide right, so Los Angeles retains a slim 13-12 lead midway through the third quarter. 

Mahomes scrambled for a first down and punctuated it with a hard shoulder to the closest defender as he stepped out of bounds. 

Patrick Mahomes is starting to get in rhythm with quick passes underneath. Without Worthy, the deep ball is is in short supply, but Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are starting to find creases underneath. 

The Chiefs didn't have any timeouts, but they end up being able to rush kicker Harrison Butker on to the field for a key 59-yard field goal. That trims the Chargers' lead to seven, 13-6, at the half. 

Los Angeles gave the 2025 first-round pick a hand-off on third down to wind the clock down before settling for another field goal to end the first half, but Hampton made a major mistake in running out of bounds. The Chiefs are out of timeouts, but now they get the ball back with 40 seconds left in the half down 13-3. 

Everything remains difficult for Kansas City's offense. They marched 16 plays down the field, but couldn't get into the end zone. Harrison Butker drilled a 35-yard field goal to get the Chiefs on the scoreboard. The Chargers have the ball at the Chiefs' 31 at the two-minute warning. 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy is questionable to return to Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers with a shoulder injury after being involved in a brutal collision with tight end Travis Kelce on the Chiefs' opening drive. The incident occurred when the two were running crossing routes and inadvertently ran into each other.

Worthy took the worst of the impact. He was knocked over and was slow to get up before going to the locker room with a towel over his head. The play ended with quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing an incompletion on a pass intended for Hollywood Brown. The team initially announced that Worthy was questionable to return with what is being called a shoulder injury, but he has since been downgraded to out.

Xavier Worthy injury: Chiefs WR knocked out of game after vicious collision with Travis Kelce on opening drive

Steven Taranto

While the Chiefs struggled to generate much offense in the first quarter, the Chargers did the opposite: The Bolts and quarterback Justin Herbert came out throwing the ball on a long drive into the start of the second quarter, but holding penalties would give them a 1st and 30 on the Chiefs' side of the field and force them to get what they could to set kicker Cameron Dicker up for a 39-yard field goal.

Dicker's field goal was good, and an offsides penalty on the Chiefs was declined. The Chargers now lead 10-0.

LATE 1Q: Chargers 7, Chiefs 0

Three possessions, three punts so far for the Chiefs. Kansas City has run 12 plays and has just 33 yards of total offense. Mahomes is 2 of 7 for 16 yards.

MID 1Q: Chargers 7, Chiefs 0

The Chiefs are punting for the second consecutive possession after failing to convert on third down. Patrick Mahomes targeted Hollywood Brown on third-and-9, but he dropped the pass. Mahomes connected earlier in the drive with Travis Kelce for his first catch of the year. So far, all Chargers.

EARLY 1Q: Chargers 7, Chiefs 0

After the Chiefs went three-and-out on their opening possession, the Chargers put together an impressive drive to cap it with points. Justin Herbert connected with Quentin Johnston for a 5-yard touchdown on third-and-short. Johnston also had a 33-yard catch earlier in the drive to move the chains. Impressive start for Los Angeles.

Kansas City wide receiver Xavier Worthy got clotheslined by teammate Travis Kelce on a crossing route underneath on Patrick Mahomes' third-down incompletion. It appeared as though Chargers safety Derwin James' tight coverage on Kelce caused the tight end to collide with Worthy. A notable issue considering wide receiver Rashee Rice is suspended for the first six games of the season. 

The Chiefs announced that Worthy is questionable to return with a shoulder injury.

Los Angeles' No. 1 scoring defense will face Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to begin tonight's game

Kelce looks like he is in the right head space to bounce back from an individual down year in 2024. His 823 yards receiving were his fewest since his rookie season in 2013. Kelce did maintain his streak of consecutive years with at least 80 catches with 97 in 2024: his nine seasons in a row with at least 80 catches is the longest such streak in NFL history. Kelce's 69.4 receiving yards per game ranks as the most receiving yards per game by a tight end in NFL history, minimum 20 games played. He already enters 2025 as the Chiefs' all-time leader in catches (1,004), receiving yards (12,151) and receiving touchdowns (77). 

Check out what the consensus is in terms who will tonight's game and every game in Week 1!

NFL Week 1 odds, predictions, expert picks: Packers-Lions, Bills-Ravens highlight loaded slate

Tyler Sullivan

Justin Herbert is looking to continue building upon his best year yet for the Chargers. He posted numerous career-highs in 2024. Herbert also has the most passing yards (21,093) and the sixth-most passing touchdowns (137) in a player's first five seasons in NFL history. 

Justin Herbert in 2024 Season

                                       Career Rank

W-L                       11-6    Best

Yards/Attempt      7.7       Best

Pass YPG             227.6   Lowest

TD-INT                 23-3      Best

Passer Rating        101.7   Best

Patrick Mahomes averages the most passing yards per game (288.9) of any quarterback in NFL history, but the Chiefs face-of-franchise is looking to bounce back from a down year by his standards in 2024. Last year was the first time Mahomes missed the Pro Bowl as a starting quarterback. He also produced career-lows as a starting quarterback in passing yards (3,928) and passing touchdowns (26) while being sacked a career-high 36 times. 

Chiefs notable streaks entering 2025

• 17 straight wins in one-score games including playoffs (longest streak all-time)
• 11-0 in one-score games in 2024 (Tied for the most wins in a single regular season all-time with 2022 Minnesota Vikings)
• 10 straight 10-win seasons (3rd-longest streak all-time behind Bill Belichick-Tom Brady Patriots and Joe Montana-Steve Young 49ers)
• 10 straight playoff appearances (2nd-longest streak all-time: 2009-19 Patriots did so for 11 consecutive seasons)
• 9 straight division titles (2nd-longest streak all-time: 2009-19 Patriots did so for 11 consecutive seasons)
• 7 straight seasons with a playoff win (2nd-longest streak all-time: 2011-18 Patriots did so in 8 consecutive seasons)
• 7 straight Conference Championship appearances (2nd-longest streak all-time: 2011-18 Patriots did so in 8 consecutive seasons)
• 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1 of 4 teams to accomplish the feat)
• Can join 1990-1993 Bills as only team to reach 4 straight Super Bowls
• Can join 1974-1979 Steelers as only teams to win 4 Super Bowls in 7-year span
• Already the only team to reach 5 Super Bowls in 6-season span

Our Cody Benjamin did a deeper dive into tonight's game and provided a prediction for this matchup of AFC West rivals. 

Where to watch Chiefs vs. Chargers in Brazil: TV channel, live stream, prediction, pick, odds, spread

Cody Benjamin

Mahomes, the only quarterback in NFL history with multiple NFL MVPs and Super Bowl wins before the age of 30, is getting ready to begin his ninth NFL season in 2025. He turns 30-years-old on Sept. 17, between Weeks 2 and 3 this season. 

Six of the last seven meetings between these teams have been decided by seven or fewer points, and neither team has scored 20 or more points in the last three matchups.