Kansas City Chiefs: 10 likes and 10 dislikes from win vs Chargers in week 2

Dislikes, 6-10

6. An Offensive First Quarter

Ugliness for the Chiefs in the first quarter: just 35 yards of total offense. Why is this team so incapable of making a good first impression? It was yet another double-digit, come-from-behind victory. Those aren’t too good on the old ticker.

But it’s also not the best way to, you know, win. It won’t last.

7. Stated Nicely: Mental Errors

The Kansas City Chiefs had 11 penalties for 90 yards. Two of the penalties were on kicks by Butker, his only point-after-touchdown attempt, and his 53-yard field-goal attempt in overtime. The first one hurt, as the ensuing kick was blocked. The second one could’ve been fatalistic.

And it looks like the Chiefs got away with Hill taking off his helmet after scoring the touchdown to put them down 17-15. The next play, the Chiefs got the two-point conversion to tie it. Had the refs called Hill for a penalty, that two-point conversion attempt would’ve been moved back 15 yards. Could’ve drastically altered things.

8. Wounds

All across the NFL, players went down with injuries, and this Chiefs-Chargers game was no exception. Frank Clark left at one point, as did Sammy Watkins, Antonio Hamilton, Damien Wilson (on a brutal collision with Herbet), and  Anthony Hitchens.

9. The Second Son’s Second Touchdown

This was a pretty nice throw by Justin Herbert for his first career touchdown pass, but it left me scratching my head: how did Jalen Guyton get so open?

The CBS crew does a good job of explaining it. It shouldn’t have happened. Had the Chiefs completed their assignments, the pass wouldn’t have been completed and the Chargers would have been forced to settle for three.

Shoddy play by the secondary.

10. The Upside Down

How are we feeling after this victory, Chiefs fans?

On one hand, just over a week ago, the Chiefs had dominated the Houston Texans by adding a terrific run game to the arsenal. The defense held start quarterback Deshaun Watson in check while the offense didn’t have to create magic to secure the win.

Now, though, the team barely escaped the road with a win over a team that had to turn to its rookie quarterback. The offensive line looked faulty, the defense was run over, the secondary’s banged up, the linebackers haven’t improved, the running game from last week was mostly absent, the penalties returned, Mahomes was hit and hit and hit, and the team still, somehow, managed to win.

So, it’s not a complete 180 from where I was last week. There were still things to like. But this team has a lot of progress to make. Thankfully, it’s only Week 2.

Next up: the Baltimore Ravens.