The Kansas City Chiefs will face their divisional rival the Los Angeles Chargers continuing a rivalry dating back to 1960 when the Chiefs were in Dallas.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers will continue their rivalry with a Week 1 matchup at the StubHub Center to kickoff the 2018 regular season. The rivalry dates back to 1960 when the Chiefs were still the Dallas Texans before moving to Kansas City following the 1962 season. In that time, Kansas City’s record against the Chargers is 60-55-1.
Both teams had shared a division since the American Football League was established in 1960 when the teams were apart of the AFL Western Conference. Since the AFL-NFL merger, the teams have been apart of the AFC West division. The Chargers began their football days in Los Angeles in 1960 playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. After just one season, the team moved to San Diego where they played until the 2017 season.
The Chiefs spent three seasons in Dallas playing at the Cotton Bowl before moving to Kansas City. Once arriving in Kansas City, the Chiefs began playing at Municipal Stadium which they would eventually share with the Kansas City Royals. They would then move to Arrowhead where they currently play. To put the rivalry into perspective, let’s take a look at win-loss records for the Chiefs in a matter of decades since the rivalry starter.
1960’s – 10-9-1
1970’s – 10-10
1980’s – 7-12
1990’s – 14-7
2000’s – 9-11
2010’s – 10-6
The first time the two teams met was back in 1960 in the first game of the regular season. The Texans (Chiefs) lost a nail-biter to the Chargers 21-20 to start the season off 0-1. Texans quarterback Cotton Davidson threw 22/40 for 230 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The two teams faced off once again just two weeks later where the Texans came out on top with a 17-0 victory.
Kansas City has won their division 10 times while the Chargers have won the West 15 times. The Chiefs also have the worse record of the two when making the playoffs sitting at 9-18 while the Chargers sit at 11-17. Kansas City, however, had won one Super Bowl in 1970. Los Angeles has had one appearance but is yet to come out with a win.
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The Chiefs took part in the first Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers but fell short of a win. Just four seasons later, the team returned to the Super Bowl to embarrass the Minnesota Vikings with a 23-7 win in front of 80,997 fans at the Sugar Bowl. Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson threw for 12 of 17 for 142 yards and a touchdown against the leagues most feared defense.
When it comes to facing each other in the playoffs, the two teams have only faced off once which was in the Wild Card game of the 1992 season. The Chargers ran the ball through the Chiefs defense 35 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns. They would come out with the victory over Kansas City 17-0.
Since then, the rivalry has grown between the two teams. The Chargers have moved back to Los Angeles playing at the Los Angeles StubHub Center in Carson, California. They share the stadium with the Los Angeles Rams who just relocated back to California after playing in Missouri for many seasons.
Kansas City will travel to Los Angeles for the Week 1 matchup which most likely won’t give the Chargers a home-field advantage despite the location. Spending so little time in Los Angeles early in the franchise’s career, most Los Angeles fans cheer for the Rams and the now Oakland Raiders. Last season when Kansas City traveled to the Chargers for the Week 3 matchup, the stands were filled with a sea of red.
The Chiefs have dominated the rivalry over the past four seasons winning eight straight. The last time the Chargers were victorious was in 2013. Kansas City had already locked down a playoff birth and decided to play their backups against the Chargers in the Week 17 matchup to preserve the health of their starters. Even with the backups reserves playing the Chargers starting group, Kansas City still took them to overtime before finally losing by a field goal sending the Chargers to the playoffs as well.
Since that game in 2013, the Chargers have not returned to the playoffs. Their combined record over the last four seasons since that game is 27-37. As for Kansas City, their overall record since the 2013 season is 41-22, not achieving double-digit wins in only one of those seasons in 2014. While Kansas City has made the playoffs three out of the four years since 2013, they’ve just come away with one win against the Houston Texans in 2015.
In hopes of turning around their playoff record, Kansas City drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes last season. It was the first time the team had taken a quarterback in the first round since 1987. Kansas City will be starting their new shiny toy against the Chargers for his first meaningful game in the NFL.
The Week 1 matchup will be a big head start to the victor in the AFC West division this season. Kansas City has the tough schedule that makes a win in Los Angeles all that more important. Most of the national media is picking the Chargers to not only win this game but to win the division in 2018. We will see how each team looks beginning the regular season and continuing a long-lived rivalry.