Five things that stood out about the KC Chiefs’ comeback win vs. the L.A. Chargers

Andy Reid’s hometown has become the Chiefs’ home away from home.

But their latest win in Los Angeles came at a considerable price.

The Chiefs beat the Chargers 17-10, remaining unbeaten this season, and unbeaten against their AFC West rivals in Los Angeles.

But the Chiefs played the final three quarters without top wide receiver Rashee Rice, who left the game with a knee injury. We’ll know more in the coming days, but head coach Andy Reid said, “It’s his knee, and we’ll have to wait and see, but I’m sure it’s not as good of news as we want.”

It’s hard to start anywhere else for this week’s five observations from immediately after the game:

1. The play from hell

The play that will alter this Chiefs season had a lot going on, but it started with a theme from a week earlier.

An inaccurate throw from Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes, who once more had a game he’d like to revise, overshot an open Travis Kelce, the pass intercepted by cornerback Kristian Fulton. (Kelce had his best day this year, with 7 catches for 89 yards.)

Rashee Rice hustled to strip Fulton on the return, but Mahomes inadvertently struck Rice in the knee as they were both trying to make a play on Fulton. As mentioned, Reid was ominous in his vague description of the injury.

A game-changing play.

A scheme-changing play.

And potentially a season-changing play.

This version of the Chiefs’ offense — short, quick throws — has been built around the skill-set of Rice. That shows in the season totals — he led the NFL in catches over the initial three weeks — but even more in the numbers beneath those totals.

Rice had 185 yards after catch in those three games, 36 more than any player in the NFL.

As NFL teams seem flabbergasted by cover-2 defenses, Rice is the Chiefs’ answer. There is no like-for-like replacement on a roster already absent Hollywood Brown.

There’s an argument to be made that Rice has grown into being the second-most important player on the offense. And I’ll be among those making it.

The offense will look different without him.

2. The play from the heavens

The offseason of the deep pass finally has a signature regular-season moment to match — this time, without the assistance of busted coverage.

Mahomes hit rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 54-yard touchdown, after Worthy just flat out-ran the cornerback and safety to the goal line. He secured the catch with only one hand — Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton grabbed his other and was flagged for defensive pass interference.

Didn’t matter.

The ball traveled farther than any completion of Mahomes’ career, per Next Gen Stats, and Worthy tracked it perfectly — an underrated quality that popped during training camp, and a quality that, you’d think, could lead to some more targets in the regular flow of the offense.

We’ve talked a lot about the deep pass because, well, the Chiefs have talked a lot about the deep pass. But they took only four shots in three weeks, second fewest in the league.

Part of taking more shots is exactly that — being comfortable with the risk. Given their offense’s relative struggles this season, and given the Rice injury, that risk is starting to become a higher-probability play for the Chiefs.

And Worthy is a higher-probability player on the other end of it. He finished with three catches for 73 yards Sunday, also sealing the game with a first down on the final drive — similar to the play the Chiefs blew in Atlanta.

3. The unblockable Chris Jones

The most consistent player on the Chiefs roster this season?

It’s easy: Chris Jones.

That’s whether the statistics show it or not — and on Sunday, they did.

Somewhat.

Jones had two sacks, including a key third-down sack that halted the Chargers’ final drive. But he also wrecked their fourth-down attempt from the 3-yard line. Oh, and he blew up a 3rd-and-1 attempt in the backfield too.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagunolo had a day — his blitzes fooled a makeshift Chargers offensive line that played without both of its tackles. But it all revolved around Jones winning.

After the Chargers’ first drive, they managed only 3.49 yards per play. That’s dominant.

4. The Kareem Hunt return

Adding Kareem Hunt to a running back rotation spearheaded by Carson Steele last week provided some intrigue.

Wait, a rotation? We didn’t see one.

Steele lost a fumble for the second time in three weeks, relegating him to the role of a spectator for most of the final three quarters. He received only one carry after his first-quarter fumble.

Enter Hunt.

In his return to the Chiefs six years after they released him, Hunt became more of a feature back than planned. And you know what? He looked pretty good.

Hunt carried 14 times for 69 yards and caught two passes for 16 yards.

He had more burst than I anticipated — because, well, he had virtually no burst last season in Cleveland, and he’s yet a year older now.

Hunt did share this week that he dealt with a sports-hernia injury that required offseason surgery. Look, the Kareem Hunt that left Kansas City in 2018 is forever gone, but the 2024 Kareem Hunt looks far better than the version on tape over the last two years.

It’s a version that could provide a needed boost, because history suggests it’s going to take Steele some time to regain the trust of Andy Reid.

5. The opening drive(s)

A week ago, as I wanted to delve into the defense’s final, game-sealing drive, linebacker Drue Tranquill brought up a different drive.

The opening drive.

Opposing teams, he pointed out, have a propensity to come out with some fire against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.

“We have to find a way to match their intensity,” Tranquill said.

It’s an ongoing process, apparently.

For the fourth time in four games, the Chiefs allowed points on the opening drive — and for the third time, it’s a touchdown. The Chargers marched 74 yards on 10 plays with relative ease, needing only one third-down conversion, and they needed only one yard on that.

It’s an alarming trend a month into the season.