Chiefs most to blame for Week 1 loss to Chargers

Kansas City’s wide receiver depth has been a problem for a while now. But it went from bad to worse in the season opener.

Second-year receiver Xavier Worthy left the game after Kansas City’s first offensive possession. He had a high-speed collision with Travis Kelce and left the game with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

Worthy’s departure made a bad situation even worse for the Chiefs. Especially because they had to come up with a backup plan on the fly.

The Chiefs are without Rashee Rice for the first six games of the season after his recent suspension. His return could help open up Kansas City’s offense, but it will be a while.

The Chiefs were also without rookie Jalen Royals, who missed Week 1 with a knee injury that’s been bothering him since August.

Ultimately, the responsibility fell on Hollywood Brown to become the team’s top target alongside Travis Kelce.

The Chiefs will eventually get healthy and look much better on paper. But they’ll have to survive the early stretches of the regular season first.

Andy Reid blames “slow start” for Chiefs loss against Chargers

It feels incredibly rare to put Andy Reid himself on a list like this. But even he would tell you it’s appropriate in this circumstance.

Reid admitted that he and the coaching staff did not prepare the Chiefs enough for Week 1. He specifically pointed to the team’s mental state as being unprepared for the season opener.

“We can learn from this as we move forward,” Reid told reporters after the game, per Arrowhead Pride’s Ricko Mendoza. “I’ve got to make sure I get my team in a better [mental] state there coming out — and [to be] playing with more emotion. We were a little flat [in] that first half — and that cost us.”

The Chiefs deserve some credit for finding their way in the second half. But it was not enough to get them a victory.

“The first half we were off a bit,” Reid added. “And then in the second half, [we] picked up a little bit. We had a few more explosives there — and got into a better rhythm — but I’ve got to make sure that we start faster.”

We should acknowledge the unusual circumstances of this game. Not only was it the first game of a new season, but a Friday game played in Brazil.

That is not an excuse, but it is also not a situation the Chiefs will find themselves in week after week.

If there’s anything I’m confident the Chiefs can quickly fix ahead of Week 2, this is it.

Chiefs were dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball

The Chiefs also got beat up in the trenches, which is never a good sign.

Jawaan Taylor and Kingsley Suamataia did not play well in the season opener. They did a poor job of opening holes in the running game and allowed the Chargers to harass Mahomes on passing downs.

First-year left tackle Josh Simmons played okay, but even he made rookie mistakes that cost the Chiefs.

Give some credit to the Chargers for their incredibly physical approach to Week 1. That made the Chiefs (perhaps) look worse than they really are on the o-line.

Kansas City also struggled to put pressure on Justin Herbert with just a four-man rush.

Steve Spagnuolo was able to dial up some exotic blitzes, as he always does. But they became less and less effective when they were the only means of creating pressure.

The Chiefs technically had a better pass rush on paper with three sacks and four quarterback hits. But they still allowed Herbert to shred them for over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Chiefs fans need to keep their eyes on the trenches in Week 2 against the Eagles.