It’s time for the Arrowhead Pride staff to put their opinions to the test. Before the Kansas City Chiefs host the Los Angeles Chargers, our writers predicted the final score and result.
The Chargers may not have had the “Offseason Champions” accolades they frequently boast entering the season, but few expected an 0-5 start and making a case for the NFL’s worst offense. They will try to get their first win on the road against a rested Chiefs squad coming off the bye. FanDuel Sportsbook currently lists
Kansas City as 8.5-point home favorites.
When last on the field, the Chiefs were tested but came out undefeated against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Week 4.
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Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief)
The Chargers’ 0-5 start is perhaps the season’s biggest development. Still, a division game should always be taken seriously.
Yes, it would be easier to name the Chargers not on this week’s injury report than to speculate on who might play through a number of serious ailments. Yes, Mike McDaniel and Jim Harbaugh appear to be from different planets. But I’m going to plan a close game.
Even if they play without longtime Travis Kelce nemesis Derwin James, I expect the Chargers defense to do what they’ve done for years: make this an ugly game that comes down to the fourth quarter. I expect Kansas City to come out on top, but I’m planning for a frustrating Sunday afternoon.
Chiefs 24, Chargers 20
Caleb James (@CJScoobs)
I did not expect this to be the season of the Chargers’ undoing, but it has come at a good time for the Chiefs as they work their way back to the top of the AFC.
The Chargers swept the Chiefs last season for the first time in nearly a decade, and Mahomes tore his ACL in the game that led to the Chiefs being eliminated from playoff contention. Despite the lopsided record and multiple players out, I still expect both teams to come out with plenty of juice. The Chargers to save their season, but the Chiefs will remind them that the AFC West still runs through Arrowhead Stadium despite the results of last season. Andy Reid off of a Bye Week is always an advantage, and his team will enter the game at nearly full health. With multiple starters out, I expect the Chargers to try to play the clock and play keep-away from Mahomes to help keep themselves in the game. The Chiefs offense will be without their key deep threat, Tyquan Thornton, but the combination of Mahomes and Kenneth Walker should be enough to get past the floundering Chargers.
Chiefs 24, Chargers 14
Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels)
I don’t see the Chiefs having much trouble taking care of business against the Chargers on Sunday. We already know Andy Reid’s track record coming off a bye week, and now he’s facing an 0-5 Chargers team that’s absolutely decimated by injuries. On top of that, Justin Herbert is playing some of the worst football of his career. I expect the Chiefs to come out sharp, handle business, and win this one comfortably.
Chiefs 27, Chargers 13
Maurice Elston (@MrMauriceElston)
The Chargers enter Week 6 at 0-5, making them one of the NFL’s biggest surprises for all the wrong reasons. Justin Herbert and the offense have struggled under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, although the defense has kept them competitive. Injuries along the offensive line only make things tougher against an undefeated Chiefs team coming off a bye. On paper, Kansas City should win comfortably. But a winless division rival fighting for its season makes this a dangerous matchup. The Chargers would love nothing more than to hand the Chiefs their first loss.
I don’t see that happening Sunday. Despite injuries at wide receiver, Kansas City can continue leaning on Kenneth Walker III to keep the offense moving and create opportunities for Patrick Mahomes through play-action. Defensively, this feels like the week “Sack Nation” returns, with the Chiefs taking advantage of a depleted offensive line and making Herbert uncomfortable. Los Angeles will put up a fight, but Andy Reid’s team will leave the bye ready to handle business.
Chiefs 30, Chargers 20
Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)
Your 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs are back to face another division opponent after the bye week. The winless Los Angeles Chargers come to town as the most disappointing team in the league after being a favorite breakout team for approximately 30 straight offseasons. They aren’t untalented but have played poorly. That makes them dangerous at 0-5 with their backs aga the wall. Expect a close, bitter contest between division rivals, regardless of the records. Herbert will probably throw a couple of touchdowns, especially if his top 2WRs were back in the lineup. It’s all going to come down to how well the Chiefs can execute. I expect the pass rush will get 3+ sacks. I expect Walker to have 100 total yards. I don’t know what to expect from the Chiefs receivers. Will Cyrus Allen get a real shot? Will Xavier Worthy produce? Can they make up for injuries to Rice and Thornton? My prediction is that it won’t be pretty, but it will be enough.
Chiefs 27, Chargers 24
Dakota Watson (@D_Watson56)
Throw the records out for this one. To me, it doesn’t matter the Chiefs are undefeated and the Chargers are winless. Every time these teams play, it seems to be a battle that comes down to the wire. And despite being winless and at times inept, the last three losses for the Chargers have all been by a score.
These teams know each other, and I think it will be another close game. I don’t expect a full game from Rashee Rice if he does play, and this leaves the receiver room as a major question mark. Expect a big game from Travis Kelce and for the pass rush to finally get home multiple times against the Chargers’ beat up offensive line.
Chiefs 30, Chargers 24
Rocky Magana (@RockyMagana)
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is a franchise vampire. He drains the talent out of an organization and gets as many wins as he can before they shrivel up into a corpse. Unfortunately, the Chargers were already halfway to hospice by the time he took the reins.
In the end, Ol’ Khaki Bottle Glasses will pin the Chargers 30th-ranked offense on offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel (AKA The Vape Prince) to buy himself another year. But how is the Chargers 22nd ranked defense Captain E-Cig’s fault?
The Chiefs are coming out of the bye. Despite being banged up at wide receiver, as long as they don’t play down to the competition, they should take care of business.
Chiefs 36, Chargers 12
Nate Christensen
Chiefs-Chargers has been exciting for the past couple of years and had a lot of intrigue coming into the season. That is no longer the case, as the Chargers are 0-5 and a complete train wreck. There’s a good chance the Chargers’ entire staff gets fired. They’re incredibly banged up on offense, and the whole unit seems checked out. Division games can get weird, but with the Chiefs off a bye and the Chargers facing this opponent, I feel like they should easily cruise to a win.
Chiefs 27, Chargers 13
Ron Kopp Jr. (@RonOnChiefs)
When a team is in as much of a down spell as the Chargers are, the Chiefs have no excuse to let them up off the ground. Los Angeles’ incredible injury report, which named more than 20 players on Thursday, reflects how broken the team has looked over five games. Quarterback Justin Herbert hasn’t elevated the team with his own play, so it’s on Kansas City to do what it takes to ensure he doesn’t get a bounce-back performance.
That’s what it will take to beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead on Sunday. Off a bye week, the team should relish this opportunity at home and take care of business. Expect defensive tackle Chris Jones to come off a bye week and lead a resurgent pass rush, taking advantage of strong man coverage on the back end to tally multiple sacks on Herbert in an imperfect victory that moves the team to 5-0.
Chiefs 23, Chargers 17
2026 Standings
The AP panel was split in Week 4 between predicting a comfortable or a close victory for Kansas City. All nine staffers on the panel did correctly predict the Chiefs would win. Jared Sapp (34-31) and Ron Kopp Jr. (23-20) did predict three-point margins. Jared tied with Matt Stagner’s 31-24 prediction to lead the way with only eight points of error. Matt has been the panel’s overall most accurate member through the season’s quarter mark.
92.4% of our readers predicted a Chiefs victory, with 60.3% anticipating a close score.
*To calculate a prediction’s points of error, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in point spread, home team score, and away team score are added together. For example, a prediction calls for a 17-10 Chiefs win. They end up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, the Kansas City score missed by one point, and the opponent’s score was predicted correctly. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there were 28 points of error in the prediction: the point spread was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7), and both scores were off by 7.
