The Los Angeles Chargers start the season 1-0 after an aerial attack offense coupled with a stingy, clamped-down defense have them leaving Brazil, 27-21 over the Kansas City Chiefs. And with such a great performance, here are tonight’s MVPs, winners and losers.
MVP: QB Justin Herbert
Despite how play-by-play broadcaster Rich Eisen reacted to each drop back from Herbert being bewildering, the only thing described as such would be the performance from the franchise quarterback. Herbert was surgical,
carving up the infamous Steve Spagnoulo defense. In all, Herbert completed 25-of-34 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. But the throws weren’t what iced the game. It was Herbert sprinting down the sideline for 19 yards on a gotta-have-it 3rd & 14.
MVP: OC Greg Roman
Aggressive, attacking offense won this game. There were fair concerns entering this season that the Chargers would be a run-centric offense, despite the data suggesting they must turn to their passing attack. And in Week 1, Roman was unafraid to let Herbert air it out. The leading rusher for tonight was first-round rookie Omarion Hampton with 15 carries, followed by the scrambling Herbert, who fled the pocket seven times. In all, the Chargers called 41 pass plays to 18 running plays.
Nothing demonstrated Roman’s change of ideology more than the final drive. The Chargers didn’t fall into a shell an hope they could barge through for a first down. Instead, Roman dialed up a play action pass to tight end Will Dissly for 18 yards. Only one run play was called in the final four plays, which gained a single yard.
Roman gave the ball to his best player and Herbert proved himself. Kudos to Roman.
MVP: DC Jesse Minter
I’ve been heralding Minter’s defense all preseason. The pass defense bullied in the exhibition games. I was curious to see if it would carry over to the real games and in their first matchup, a true test against the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes II leaves with 258 yards and a single passing touchdown.
Even with the miracle plays and magic. With the Andy Reid prep-time. It mattered not, as Minter’s defense clamped down on Kansas City.
The defense held the Chiefs to fewer than 100 net rushing yards and under 250 net passing yards.
The Chiefs were eventually going to break through, but even after the coverage busts on Travis Kelce’s 37-yard touchdown and the brutal 49-yard gain on fourth down to Marquise Brown, the defense didn’t falter. They didn’t grant the Chiefs the all-too-often fourth quarter comeback.
Winners
WR Quentin Johnston – The game-opening touchdown and the game-winning score were both delivered by Johnston.
The game opener a must-score 3rd & Goal from the 3-yard line.
The game-winner a brilliant burner, dusting Chiefs safety Jaden Hicks for a 23-yard touchdown.
WR Keenan Allen – Welcome home, Allen. In his return, he snared seven passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. His 11-yard touchdown catch kept the Chargers lead over the Chiefs and once more put seven on the board instead of three.
The touchdown catch by Allen was No. 60 in a Chargers uniform and No. 67 of his illustrious career.
Offensive Line – The absence of left tackle Rashawn Slater had many doubt this game would go in the Chargers favor. I’ll admit, I was one of them. But against the Chiefs, protection was sound across the board. Though the Chiefs did get home on Herbert thrice, including a stress-inducing five-yard sack to make it 3rd & 14 on the final possession, the protection held up. On 41 pass plays, the Chiefs finished with four total quarterback hits.
DL Teair Tart – Fortunately, his open-palm strike to the facemask of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce resulted in only a 15-yard penalty. A foolish penalty that he was baited into. But those open palms also deflected three passes from Mahomes, including a potential game-tying two-point conversion to Chiefs tight end Noah Gray.
DL Daiyan Henley – Notching a sack on the ever-elusive Mahomes is always a win. But when the 2023 third-rounder doesn’t fall for the sprint-and-spin from Mahomes on third down, knocking the Chiefs further from the end zone and forcing a field goal, that’s a winner.
Red Zone Defense – If I’m calling out groups specifically, I’m pointing toward the red zone defense, which allowed just one score from the Chiefs’ offense in the red zone and was 0-2 in goal-to-go. These defense is gnarly.
Discipline – In all, the Chargers were flagged six times for 49 yards. And it would’ve been five flags for 34 if not for Tart’s foolish palm-strike to Kelce’s facemask. The Chargers did not allow the officials to dictate the game. They won and lost on their terms.
Losers
The Kansas City Chiefs – They’re not dead. They’re far from out of it. But they start the season 0-1 and the Chargers are on top. No turnovers. No critically bad plays. Some bad clock management gave the Chiefs life, I admit; there are things to clean up. But tonight, the Chargers are all winners.
