[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Sep 5, 2025; Sao Paulo, BRAZIL; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) before a NFL game at Corinthians Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jean Carniel/Reuters via Imagn Images Jean Carniel/Reuters via Imagn Images

Why Week 1 Debacle Does Not Dash Chiefs' Aspirations

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Kansas City Chiefs opened up their 2025 National Football League season against their longtime AFC West rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, on the road in Brazil. For the Chiefs, it did not go the way they wanted it to, and they came up short in Brazil.

The Chiefs fell to the Chargers 21-27. The Chiefs did not play their best game, but they stayed in the game the whole way, but could not get a stop when they needed it the most.

A lot of different questions will be coming out of this game because it is shocking to many to see that the Chiefs have lost the first game of the season. But they did go up against a really good team in the Chargers. Tonight, the Chargers were the better team, and now the Chiefs are going to have to make sure they make all the right adjustments for next week. The Chiefs will spend their time watching film, and they will do a better job next week.

The Chiefs know how to handle this situation and will go about their business the right way. The Chiefs know how to bounce back, and they are going to need it. But even as they sit 0-1, they are going to do great things this season. As of Week 1, they will not be the winning side of things.

"When I am looking at the Kansas City Chiefs, it was not the Kansas City Chiefs that we are used to seeing out there," said former NFL quarterback Cam Newton. "There were a lot of miscues and mishaps. It was a lot of my faults and my bads, I will get them next time situations. And that is never going to win football games. The aura of this team is evident. But when the rubber meets the road and you start saying we have to play football here."

Things Chiefs have to clean up

"Bad passes from the great Patrick Mahomes. And things like that. These things are not what we are used to seeing the Kansas City Chiefs play as. That is very concerning and alarming."

The Chiefs will host the defending Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles next week. It is a going to be a Super Bowl rematch in Kansas City.

This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: