By MATT PIKE
The Kansas City Chiefs kept their momentum rolling on the season following their bye week and remained one of the three unbeaten teams in the NFL beating the Los Angeles Chargers 22-6 at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs scored on both of their first quarter possesions, starting the game with a seven play drive that ended with a 44 yard field goal from Harrison Butker, and then after a Chargers punt finding the endzone to extend their lead after a six play drive, Kenneth Walker III scoring his fifth touchdown of the season on a 33 yard rushing score to give Kansas City a 9-0 lead, after Butker missed the extra point attempt. Prior to the end of the first quarter, the Chargers drove down the field ending an 11 play drive with a 23 yard field goal by Cameron Dicker.
Following the field goal from Dicker, the Chiefs got the ball back with 1:33 left in the first quarter, and in four plays started the second quarter with a punt giving the Chargers the ball back. It did not stay in Los Angeles's hands long however, as after six plays Justin Herbert threw an interception to linebacker Jack Cochrance, which Kansas City would turn into their own interception five plays later when Patrick Mahomes, looking for Andrew Armstrong in the endzone, was picked off by Cam Hart.
The Chiefs forced another punt from the Chargers on the ensuing drive though, then used eight plays to drive the field and add to their lead with another touchdown by Walker, who dove into the endzone on a two yard rush. Kansas City led 16-3 and forced yet another Los Angeles punt with 36 seconds remaining, using three plays and 23 seconds to get into position for Butker to knock through a 50 yard field goal for a 19-3 lead at the halftime break.
Things slowed down in the second half for both teams as the Chargers scored their final points to start the third quarter, Dicker knocking through a 30 yard field goal, and after a turnover on downs by the Chiefs, both teams exchanged punts over the next three drives, until Los Angeles turned the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter and Butker missed a field goal.
Cornerback L'Jarius Sneed forced a fumble following the missed field goal and linebacker Dru Tranquill recovered, setting up the Chiefs for an 11 play drive and another chance for Butker. who this time hit a 30 yard kick to make it 22-6. Kansas City forced another turnover on downs from the Chargers and then knelt out the remaining clock for the victory.
The Chiefs came into the game looking for receivers to step up, with Rashee Rice out and losing Tyquan Thornton to a potential season ending ankle injury. Along with Xavier Worthy, Cyrus Allen, and Jalen Royals, they activated both Andrew Armstrong and recently resigned Justin Watson from the practice squad. Worthy stepped up in a larger role with seven catches for 73 yards.
Worthy says to continue to grow into that larger role, its about taking nothing for granted in a tough league, even with his team playing so well.
"Like we're 5-0, so like I said its hard to be 5-0 in this league, winning in this league is hard everyody's good, everybody's got drafted in this league for a reason, so can't take these wins for granted," Worthy tells reporters in the locker room after the game. "And I feel like we're playing some of our best ball, we left some out there on the field, but can't be mad with a win."
The Chiefs defense also stepped up massively. After getting four sacks against the Denver Broncos in week one of the season, Kansas City had gotten none since. Against the Chargers they were able to get four more sacks, including the first of the season and the first full sack of his career, for Ashton Gillotte. Gillote finished with 1.5 sacks in 2025, getting a half sack in three different games.
Gillote says it feels good to get those sacks after putting as much pressure on the quarterback as the defense has, and adds the key to getting those sacks is just keep rushing.
"Sacks come in bunches and its kind of unpredictable at times, like timing can be, play calls can be wrong, we have people winning but sometimes the play just doesn't allow it," Gillote explains. "So we just have to keep rushing, keep being relentless, and it will just keep following."
Mahomes was 23-of-30 for 272 yards with an interception through the air and added five rushes for 16 yards. Walker ran 19 times for 128 yards with two touchdowns, pushing his league leading rushing yard total to 665 yards. Along with Worthy, Noah Gray had three catches for 53 yards and Travis Kelce had four catches, also for 53 yards.
Kansas City (5-0) now travels to face the defending Super Bowl champions as Walker will return to Seattle to face the Seahawks (3-3) on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is at 7:20pm, you can hear pregame on both KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM) and Q Country (92.7 FM) at 6pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.