Kansas City Chiefs: Week 3 grades after loss to LA Chargers

AFC West divisional play started with a matchup against the LA Chargers and the game ended with another tally in the loss column for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs returned to Arrowhead Stadium in week three to host the Chargers and it was the first time Justin Herbert faced Patrick Mahomes in front of the rowdy KC crowd.

This game followed the theme of turnovers on offense and some miscommunication in the secondary that led to another playoff contending team getting the best of the Chiefs. As such, here are the grades for the offense and defense based on the Chiefs’ performance in week three.

Kansas City Chiefs offense: C+

Moving the ball wasn’t an issue for the Kansas City Chiefs offense based on the 33 first downs gained and an impressive showing of 437 total yards.

With those stats it would be assumed the grade assigned would at least be an “A”, but yet again turnovers were the kryptonite for Mahomes and company. Tyreek Hill and Clyde Edwards-Helaire each recorded a fumble and Mahomes had two interceptions on the stat sheet. One ball Mahomes threw was off the body of Jody Fortson and the other was an attempt to push the ball downfield to his main target Travis Kelce.

A positive note was Edwards-Helaire turning in a productive outing against LA with 100 yards on 17 carries with a 10 yard receiving touchdown. Fans need to realize Edwards-Helaire has only lost the ball twice in his NFL career and only once in his time at LSU. Week three was a glimpse of how efficient Clyde can be and with plenty of locker room support, hopefully those turnovers will be in his rear-view mirror.

Chiefs Kingdom should be looking forward to the addition of Josh Gordon to the already talented roster. Gordon is still only 30 years old and at 6’3″ 225 lbs. Mahomes should have no issue finding ways to throw the ball his direction. It’s tough seeing the offense with turnover woes, but look for this addition to add some juice to an offense that is must watch television every week.

Kansas City Chiefs defense: B-

Although the Kansas City Chiefs defense did give up 30 points, this group still had a solid outing. There was clear improvement from week two and it was the offense not capitalizing on the Chargers being forced to punt.

LA was only 4-11 on third down and the defensive front held Austin Ekeler to 55 yards rushing. The reason I am assigning only a “B-” is because of the continual red zone struggles and secondary miscommunications that led to Mike Williams going for 122 receiving yards on 7 receptions.

Steve Spagnuolo needs to decide on personnel so the communication can improve in the secondary. Daniel Sorensen saw 100% of the defensive snaps week one and week two and followed that up with 91% snap percentage week three. The fans are wanting Juan Thornhill to take some of Sorensen’s snaps, but so far Spags has not given the young playmaker many opportunities.

Production will come from the defensive front as Chris Jones is still adjusting to defensive end and the free agent defensive tackle Jarran Reed is working in the middle with defensive tackle Khalen Saunders who is coming off of a season-ending elbow injury.

In week four look for Thornhill to get more snaps, and the D-line to put some pressure on Jalen Hurts. Consistent defensive stops lead to Patrick Mahomes being back on the field which is a recipe for points being scored and teams falling behind against a Chiefs team that has been to back to back Super Bowls.