{"id":350890,"date":"2025-12-15T22:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/350890\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T22:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:19:08","slug":"5-winners-and-16-losers-from-the-chiefs-crushing-loss-to-the-chargers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/350890\/","title":{"rendered":"5 winners and 16 losers from the Chiefs\u2019 crushing loss to the Chargers"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know what was awesome about Sunday\u2019s game between the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> and Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Here are a few players who stood out in the last meaningful game of the 2025 season in Kansas City:<\/p>\n

\"KANSAS<\/a><\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – DECEMBER 14: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after a play during the fourth quarter of the NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tight end Travis Kelce: Retirement speculation will now dominate any conversation surrounding the 36-year old; Chiefs Kingdom may have seen the last chains-moving completion between Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. If so, it was glorious. On Sunday, Kelce continued to show he can still get the job done with 70 receiving yards over seven catches. 797 yards this season ranks Kelce second among NFL tight ends; he is a few solid performances away from an eighth 1,000-yard season. Undoubtedly, he should be the last player to wear 87 in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Linebackers Drue Tranquill and Nick Bolton: Once again, Kansas City\u2019s defense showed up and fought until the end. The Chargers were held under 100 yards rushing and 300 total yards on offense. The veteran linebackers combined for 25 tackles (two for loss) and two quarterback hits. Tranquill seemed to elevate his game against his former team. Bolton battled through multiple in-game injuries to do what he does best.<\/p>\n

Defensive lineman Charles Omenihu: The pass rush impacted Los Angeles\u2019 offense, hitting quarterback Justin Herbert 12 times and finishing four with a sack. Omenihu made his contribution with 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.<\/p>\n

Gaining experience: One of the only silver linings from this 2025 season is the opportunity young players will have over the next three weeks. In the Mahomes era, the team has never been eliminated from playoff contention until now. Championship teams lean on veterans down the stretch, and non-playoff teams look to the future. For the remaining games, these players should be given the chance to prove useful for the future: safety Jaden Hicks, running back Breshard Smith, wide receiver Jalen Royals, cornerback Nohl Williams, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, defensive back Kevin Knowles and tight end Jared Wiley.<\/p>\n

Defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte: He\u2019s one rookie who is getting better each week and making the most of his opportunities. Gillotte logged his first career interception on Sunday, earned half of a sack for the second straight week, registered another hit and batted a pass down. He has a relentless motor and is showing his value for the future.<\/p>\n

\"Dec<\/a><\/p>\n

Dec 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) walks to the huddle from the sideline during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes: Once again, the two-time MVP did what he could to will this team to victory. Once again, it wasn\u2019t enough. After an early rushing touchdown, the offense had 4 three-and-outs over the next ten possessions. The fourth quarter \u2014 when Mahomes used to save the day \u2014 started with a red-zone interception on third-and-12. With five minutes left, the Chiefs\u2019 offense pushed past midfield before Mahomes went down. Being helped off the field with a torn ACL was a sickening, but fitting end to what had to be the most frustrating season of his professional career.<\/p>\n

Offensive linemen not named Creed Humphrey or Kingsley Suamataia: Without a detailed rewatch, it\u2019s hard to tell where the offensive line struggles were this week. But we can safely assume it was everyone outside of the center and left guard. No team is deep enough to overcome the amount of injuries Kansas City has suffered, but the depth wasn\u2019t good enough to give the offense a fighting chance against the Chargers. Mahomes was sacked five times before leaving injured. The running backs totaled 34 yards on 19 carries. The ineffectiveness started up front.<\/p>\n

Running back Isiah Pacheco: Acknowledging the injuries up front, running back Isiah Pacheco was still ineffective this week with 11 carries amounting to 21 yards. Kareem Hunt didn\u2019t fare any better, but was able to convert in short yardage. Clearly, the Chiefs need a back who can move the chains in long yardage too.<\/p>\n

Wide Receivers Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Tyquan Thornton: These three are the only wide receivers who caught a pass against Los Angeles. They each also took brutal hits from a defense ready to inflict pain. The throws may have put them in exposed positions, but it was just maddening to see the pass game flail as Mahomes tried to keep plays alive \u2014 only to find no open targets. This was the most talented receiver room in recent memory, and they were still not good enough. In 2026, the Chiefs need to employ more receivers who can fight for the ball and make themselves available to Mahomes more easily. This trio should be back as part of the solution, but as a whole, they weren\u2019t prepared to respond to the Chargers\u2019 physical coverage.<\/p>\n

Head coach Andy Reid: Sometimes, it takes hitting rock bottom for even the best coaches to realize change is necessary, even if that means taking a short-term step back. Hopefully, this is rock bottom for this era of the Chiefs. Reid should take this opportunity to reimagine the offense and address some issues that have plagued them for years. Again this week, we saw too many penalties, not enough creativity, too much reliance on Mahomes creating, and an unimpactful run game. It is not reasonable to call for Reid to be fired, but t shake things up.<\/p>\n

Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy, Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub, Pass Game Coordinator Joe Bleymaier, Running Backs coach Todd Pinkston: Moving forward under Reid\u2019s leadership, someone is going to have to answer for this team\u2019s struggles. Blame might fall on these assistant coaches for not contributing enough to player development, game planning, and innovation. Reid, like Mahomes, can\u2019t do everything on his own; he needs a staff that challenges the status quo and pushes everyone forward. Fair or not, the outcome of this season likely means some substantial changes.<\/p>\n

Please note: the labels \u201cwinners\u201d and \u201closers\u201d are not judgments of talent or character. They simply reflect single-game performance. No disrespect is intended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You know what was awesome about Sunday\u2019s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers? Here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[174752,349,99],"class_list":["post-350890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-scores-and-results","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}