Why Los Angeles Chargers will beat Chiefs, why they won’t, and a prediction

The Los Angeles Chargers open the 2025 NFL season on Friday in Brazil by “hosting” the Kansas City Chiefs. 

There, Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers will hope to end years of losing to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs with the globe watching during a unique primetime game, streaming free on YouTube. 

A difficult task, to say the least. These key factors explain why the Chargers will or won’t win on Friday night.

Why Chargers will beat Chiefs

Things weren’t nearly as lopsided as one might expect last year. The Chargers lost the first game 17-10 while Justin Herbert battled nagging injuries. Then, a 19-17 loss in December. That was in the first year of a program that exceeded expectations by going to the playoffs. The run-first attitude and stingy defense is built specifically to beat teams like the Chiefs. 

Why Chargers won’t beat Chiefs

Jet lag? Miracle Mahomes plays? Andy Reid putting on another clinic to counteract a rival? There are lots of reasons, but tops among those might be the Chargers already missing Rashawn Slater in front of Herbert. That threw Trey Pipkins into the starting lineup, bumped Joe Alt to a different spot and we still haven’t seen much from Mekhi Becton on a line that returns two of its three underwhelming interior starters from last year. 

Chargers vs. Chiefs prediction

It’s hard to get past the losses up front. The Chargers want to impose their will on the ground, but will miss arguably the best right tackle in football and start two guys who struggled last year. Herbert’s cast of weapons is much better compared to last year, at least. But the defense will hope for big performances from youngsters like Tuli Tuipulotu and new faces and could experience some growing pains this early, too. Look for Herbert to will the Chargers to keep this one close before a close loss. 

Final score: Chiefs 27, Chargers 23