Chiefs Roster: Can the team overcome its Week 1 issues?

Take a deep breath. Now exhale. Do that three more times. Everything is going to be alright.

Let’s acknowledge the obvious: the Kansas City Chiefs’ season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday night was a big disappointment. The offense had an eerie resemblance to the unit most of us did not particularly enjoy watching last year. Meanwhile, the defense was unrecognizable. That wasn’t a good thing.

But over the long term, how much does that matter?

I certainly don’t believe the loss was a complete one-off — but I also don’t believe the sky is falling. The answer – as usual – lies somewhere in between.

Let’s begin with the offense.

This part of the team was supposed to look and feel different in 2025. The offensive line had an offseason makeover. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes finally had running back Isiah Pacheco — along with wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy — on the field together at full health. Wideout Rashee Rice was set to join them in six weeks.

But on Friday night, things changed quickly. Worthy went down with a shoulder injury three plays into the game. The offense suddenly looked like a mirror image of the unit we saw a year ago, but with Worthy swapped out for Brown and two new starters on the left side of the offensive line.

The results looked mighty similar, too.

The Kansas City offense once again lacked any explosive elements that could take the top off the Los Angeles defense. We saw just three passing plays of at least 20 yards — and the only running play longer than 10 yards was a 15-yard scramble by Mahomes.

Oh, yes… Mahomes. We can’t forget about him, because he was mostly spectacular. He played what my dear friend Terez Paylor might have described as an “over my dead body” game. He did everything he could to drag the rest of the offense into the matchup.

But it was too little — and too late.

That brings us to the defense. Woah… buddy… the defense.

I’ll start with the good part — and it won’t take long:

The run defense was surprisingly impressive. The Chargers’ running backs combined for just 16 carries for 53 yards. For all the talk about how poorly Kansas City handled its situation at nose tackle, the front seven held up quite well against an opponent that would love nothing more than to run the ball 50 times per game.

See? I said it wouldn’t take long.

The pass rush was another matter. It was non-existent for the vast majority of the game. The secondary seemed to have communication issues from start to finish. Even when it did communicate effectively, the coverage still left something to be desired.

I get it: any defense would have limited answers for Ladd McConkey. He’s a talented, young, ascending wide receiver. But Quentin Johnston — and 33-year old Keenan Allen — combined for 12 receptions on 17 targets for nearly 150 yards. Tyler Conklin and Will Dissly caught all three of their targets for nearly 70 yards.

That’s pretty hard to explain away.

In the end, it was one of the worst performances by a Kansas City pass defense since the unit rose to the top of the league in 2022. Here are the lowlights:

But hey… losses happen. Even the Super Bowl-winning Mahomes teams of this era lost as many as six games during the regular season. This, however, wasn’t just another loss. This looked (and felt) different.

Of course it can. We’re talking about the Chiefs, after all. But it might take some time.

The offense will probably have to tread water over the next few weeks. The situation with the pass-catchers is back to where it has been over the past couple of years: there‘s just one real outside threat. In the coming weeks, it would be helpful for the running game to find its form. That would remove some of the pressure on Mahomes.

When Rice returns, the offense should change dramatically; he’s the go-to weapon the unit currently lacks. When Worthy returns — possibly in a few weeks — he’d also be a significant addition.

The defense, though, will be harder to square.

There’s no obvious button to push. It’s just that everyone has to play better — and I do mean everyone. Kansas City needs more from Charles Omenihu, George Karlaftis and Mike Danna rushing off the edge. Chris Jones needs to play with more discipline. The safeties have to be better in coverage. The Chiefs need Kristian Fulton to play like the $20 million corner they signed him to be — because when he does, the team can put Trent McDuffie into the position where he’s elite: as a slot corner.

The season got off to a rough start. The next month could be a bit more turbulent than we expected. But I have faith that the offense will eventually become a top-10 unit. While I have a bit of a harder time claiming the defense will be able to do the same, we’re still talking about Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs.

So take another deep breath. Everything is going to be all right.