Kansas City Chiefs will learn the answer to a major defensive question for 2025 against the Los Angles Chargers in Brazil in Week 1

The Kansas City Chiefs will find out right away just how good their run defense is against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Chiefs were in the upper echelon of NFL rushing defenses from a season ago, allowing 1,731 yards on 418 rushing attempts with just 13 rushing touchdowns allowed. Will they be able to maintain that same level of consistency in 2025? That's a big question facing the team. They certainly have a few notable personnel changes along the interior defensive line, with Mike Pennel now in Cincinnati and Tershawn Wharton now in Carolina. Their Week 1 opponent will be a good litmus test.

With Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator in Los Angeles, Jim Harbaugh's Chargers offense is super-charged for running the football in 2025. When these two coaches were together with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, they never ranked lower than ninth in the league in rushing offense. And it's not as if they're coming off a bad season running the ball.

In 2024, the Chargers ranked 10th in the league in percentage of rushing plays with 463 rushing attempts for 1,882 yards. They averaged 4.1 yards per attempt and averaged 110.7 rushing yards per game during that span. J.K. Dobbins was their lead back, alongside Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal, but this year, their backfield has an entirely different look.

Chargers RB Najee Harris expected to start vs. Chiefs in Week 1

Chargers starting RB Najee Harris missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason after suffering an eye injury in a fireworks incident on the Fourth of July. Jim Harbaugh anticipates that the bruising runner will make his debut against the Chiefs in Week 1.

"Yes, full on the injury report. He says he's ready, and he looks ready to go," Harbaugh told reporters in Brazil on Wednesday. "Really hard to predict play counts and things of that nature. He's going to get in there and play football and have at it. That's the mindset."

In three career combined regular season and postseason games against the Chiefs, Harris has recorded 44 carries for 196 yards and no touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. In addition to Harris, the Chargers have a stable of backs that features rookie Omarion Hampton and former Michigan Wolverine Hassan Haskins. If Harris is unable to shoulder a full workload, look for Hampton and Haskins to get involved. Hampton had four carries for 21 rushing yards in the preseason, while Haskins had 12 carries for 67 yards.