Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are back from their bye, and the setup in Week 6 looks rough for the Chargers. Kansas City is unbeaten, rolling with one of the league’s best offenses, and now gets a Los Angeles team that has yet to win a game - or cover a spread.
The Chargers’ 2026 season has gone sideways fast. Injuries have hit both sides of the ball, and Justin Herbert has not found his form.
Through five games, he has thrown for five touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 59.4 percent of his passes. Los Angeles is a long shot to reach the playoffs, and the market has treated it that way, sending the Chargers into this road matchup as a heavy underdog.
Kansas City, meanwhile, has reloaded quickly after a disappointing 2025 in which Mahomes tore his ACL. He is again in the MVP conversation, the Chiefs sit fifth in the latest Super Bowl odds, and the offense has been powered by Kenneth Walker III. The veteran back has given Kansas City a different gear in 2026, and the numbers have been eye-opening: 87 carries, 537 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 6.2 yards per carry, plus 12 catches on 19 targets for 84 yards and two more scores.
Walker has already gone over 170 rushing yards twice in four games, and he has seen 20 or more touches in every contest. That volume should stay high here, even against a Chargers defense that has held opponents to 3.8 yards per carry and ranks sixth in the NFL in EPA/Rush.
Still, the broader team picture points firmly toward Kansas City. The Chiefs’ offense ranks fourth in EPA/Play and seventh in success rate, while the defense sits ninth in EPA/Play and fourth in success rate. The Chargers’ offense has been the opposite, coming in last in EPA/Play and 28th in success rate through five weeks.
Los Angeles also enters this game with more problems in the receiver room. Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston are all banged up, and Rashawn Slater is on injured reserve. That’s a bad combination for a quarterback already struggling to protect the football.
The betting trends don’t help the Chargers either. They are 0-5 against the spread, and their latest setback was especially frustrating: a blown second-half lead at home against Denver in Week 5. The Chiefs have also handled this matchup well over time, with Mahomes winning 10 of his 14 career games against the Chargers.
Kansas City has been merely average after a bye under Andy Reid, going 8-11 against the spread including playoffs, but this feels like a spot where the talent gap matters more than the trend. The Chiefs already have a statement win this season, blowing out Denver in Week 1, while the Chargers just lost to the Broncos at home on a day when Bo Nix threw for only 123 yards.
There isn’t much in the Chargers’ first five losses to suggest a turnaround is coming. I’d lay the points with Mahomes and the Chiefs coming out of the bye.
In Other News...
Bo Nix Faces A Growing Broncos Question Sean Payton Can't Ignore
Bo Nixs first season has already produced a clear talking point in Denver, where the rookie quarterback is averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and sitting near the bottom of the league in that category. Sean Payton has made it plain he wants more aggressiveness from his quarterback, and that push says as much about the Broncos offensive ceiling as it does about Nixs comfort level in the system.
For the Chargers, it is the sort of division-wide development worth watching closely because every AFC West ripple matters. One name that has surfaced in broader trade chatter is Quentin Johnston, but any potential move would have to navigate both the financial side and Los Angeles willingness to part with a young receiver, leaving this as more of a long-view possibility than an obvious quick fix. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Have Reached A Justin Herbert Debate Nobody Wanted
An 0-5 start has pushed the Chargers into a place few around the league expected to see them, and it has dragged Justin Herbert into an uncomfortable conversation for a franchise built around him. His play has slipped, the offense has sputtered, and the broader picture has only sharpened the pressure on the coaching staff and the personnel choices around the quarterback.
There is no easy path through a downturn like this, especially when the teams most important player is the one under the brightest spotlight. Moving Herbert would be the kind of seismic decision that comes with huge risk, so the real question is more basic and more difficult: are the Chargers looking at a quarterback problem, or at everything orbiting the quarterback? [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Draw A Hard Line As Pressure Builds Everywhere Else
With the noise around the Chargers building from every direction, one line appears to be holding firm: Justin Herbert is not going anywhere. ESPNs Adam Schefter reported that the team has never discussed trading its quarterback, and the idea is not under consideration, a notable stance for a franchise trying to steady itself while Herbert works through a stretch of uneven play.
Herberts contract runs through 2029, and the full no-trade clause gives him major control over any such scenario anyway. So if the Chargers decide change is needed, the pressure is more likely to land on the coaching staff or the front office before it reaches the quarterback, which tells you where the real uncertainty in Los Angeles still sits. [Read more 🡒]