The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 16-13, eliminating them from playoff contention for the 2025 season.

First Half

The Chiefs had an overall great first half until the very end. The Chiefs got off to a very good start, taking their opening drive into the endzone with a good mix of both the run and the passing game.

The defense would also start out solid, allowing just three points on the Charger’s opening drive before the offense would go there and out. After exchanging punts, the defense would really step it up, picking quarterback Justin Herbert off in plus territory thanks to some immense pressure in the backfield.

Unfortunately this would only result in three points for the Chiefs, but the defense would stop the Los Angeles offense yet again and force a punt. After that, the offense would drive down the field and have kicker Harrison Butker kick another one through to make it 13-3 Kansas City with just 38 seconds remaining in the first half.

That’s when the flip got switched, as the Chargers would go on a five play, 60-yard touchdown drive off the back of an excellent 34-yard kick return by KeAndre Lambert-Smith and a 37-yard sideline catch by Tre’ Harris.

Second Half

The third quarter saw the offense go completely inept, as the offense produced negative four yards in six plays throughout the entire quarter. Meanwhile, the defense was doing the best that it could to keep the team in it, holding Los Angeles to just six points on three drives.

Finally, heading into the fourth, the offense got things going, as they drove into the red zone off the back of a couple of big plays and a targeting penalty. However, a third down interception from quarterback Patrick Mahomes kept Kansas City off the board as the Chargers would draw the clock down to nearly five minutes remaining.

The Kansas City offense would once again start to get things going, driving into Charger territory before disaster struck around the Los Angeles 46 yard line with about two minutes to go. On a roll out to his right, Mahomes would go down in agony with a serious injury that would later be revealed to be an ACL tear that has ended his season.

As a result, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew stepped into the game and threw an ill-advised interception on second down inside the 40 to end the game and the Chiefs’ season early.

Key Statistics

The defense once again did all that they could, as linebackers Drue Tranquill and former Missouri Tiger, Nick Botlon, combined for 25 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits.

As a whole, the defense would once again bend but not break, allowing 210 passing yards and 94 rushing yards with only 16 points. They would also help to solve their turnover issue by picking Herbert off.

However, the efforts of the defense would prove to be futile, as the offense, dealing with a number of offensive line injuries and miscues by the receivers, could not get the ball moving enough. As a result, Mahomes once again had an ugly day on the stat sheet before getting injured, ending his day going 16/28 for 189 yards and one interception.

The biggest issue, however, seemed to be the inability to get the run game going, as no rusher reached over 21 yards on the ground. The team rushed 21 times for just 49 times, something that the offense could not overcome. Tight end Travis Kecle led the way in the receiving game with seven catches for 70 yards, a solid day that was marred by the sad ending, as many are now predicting the NFL legend to retire at the end of the season.

The Outlook

The Chiefs now sit at 6-8 and have officially been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2015. On top of this, the Chargers swept the Chiefs for the first time since 2013 and Mahomes is out for the rest of this season and potentially part of the 2026 season. The good news is that Mahomes underwent successful surgery the day after the injury and will begin rehab immediately.

It has also been confirmed that no other ligament tears were sustained. The Chiefs could also finally sit with a decent spot in the draft for the first time in quite a while, however, many of the Chiefs’ faithful feel very disappointed right now. The Chiefs missing the playoffs is something that fans of the team are not very accustomed to as of late due to their recent success of making the AFC Championship or Super Bowl every year dating back to 2018.

With this epic failure, many are wondering where the franchise will go from here and if they can bounce back to their former glory or if they will have to sit back, no longer in the spotlight, for the foreseeable future.