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Patrick Mahomes Completes Pass While Totally Airborne in Latest Incredible Highlight | SI
On a third-down play to start the fourth quarter in the Chiefs’ season opener in Brazil against the Chargers, the three-time Super Bowl MVP created his latest highlight in a career already filled with them.
As Mahomes saw some pressure from the Chargers’ defense, he scrambled toward the line of scrimmage but couldn’t run for the first down with a sea of blue headed his way. He was tripped up, but before he hit
the ground he flipped the ball while in the air to JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was standing just past the line to gain.
Herbert’s brilliant opener helps Chargers finally beat Chiefs | ESPN
The scramble sealed a 27-21 win for the Chargers and snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Chiefs. It also capped one of the best games of Herbert’s career, as he finished with 318 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 32 rushing yards. The scramble was an emphatic close to perhaps the biggest win of the Jim Harbaugh era in Los Angeles.
“He is hard to deal with,” Harbaugh said of Herbert. “He’s a problem.”
General manager Joe Hortiz spent the offseason retooling the Chargers’ offense. He signed running back Najee Harris, right guard Mekhi Becton and wide receiver Keenan Allen. He drafted running back Omarion Hampton in the first round and wide receiver Tre’ Harris in the second. The moves came after a humiliating 32-12 playoff loss to the Houston Texans, in which the Texans’ defensive line dominated the scrimmage, Herbert was inaccurate, and the Chargers’ receivers not named Ladd McConkey struggled mightily.
Friday night NFL takeaways: Chargers deliver big statement win | Yardbarker
The Chiefs have a big wide receiver problem
As long as the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, they are going to have a chance. But he can not do everything himself. He still needs some playmakers, and right now the wide receiver situation is looking pretty bleak.
With Rashee Rice already out for the first six games due to a suspension, the Chiefs lost their other top wide receiver target just three plays into Friday’s game when Xavier Worthy left with a shoulder injury following a collision with Travis Kelce.
With Rice and Worthy out of the lineup, the Chiefs lineup lacked some big play ability and resulting in Mahomes averaging just 6.6 yards per attempt on Friday.
The Chiefs have won with a thin wide receiver group in the past, but that was with a much better and loaded roster around them.
Which brings us to the other big concern for the Chiefs after the first game.
Chiefs-Chargers in Brazil: What We Learned from Los Angeles’ 27-21 win | NFL.com
Next Gen Stats Insight for Chiefs-Chargers (NFL Pro): Patrick Mahomes scrambled to run six times for 57 yards and a touchdown, generating a career-high four explosive scramble runs of 10-plus yards while tying his career high with five first downs.
NFL Research: With Friday night’s win, Jim Harbaugh improved his Week 1 record to 6-0 as an NFL coach, tying for the most Week 1 wins without a loss in NFL history.
Xavier Worthy hurt on first drive as Chiefs open season flat | ESPN
Less than two minutes into their 27-21 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday, the Chiefs experienced their first significant injury when Xavier Worthy, their fastest receiver, suffered a right shoulder injury on the third snap of the season.
Worthy ran a crossing route to gain separation against the Chargers’ man-to-man coverage. Instead of finishing his route, Worthy collided with his teammate, tight end Travis Kelce, who was also running a crossing route but in the opposite direction. The play ended with quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing an incompletion because Worthy, a second-year player, fell to the turf in pain.
A few minutes later, after the Chiefs punted, Worthy walked back to the locker room with a towel over his head. Before halftime, the Chiefs ruled Worthy out for the remainder of the game.
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The running back did not participate in Friday’s practice and received a questionable designation for the 49ers’ season opener in Seattle due to a calf ailment that McCaffrey confirmed arose Thursday.
McCaffrey, who popped up on the injury report Thursday and was listed as limited, told reporters Friday he “feels great” and plans to play Sunday, explaining his absence was nothing more than him being cautious.
“Nothing serious, I’ll tell you that,” the running back said Friday. “Like I said, I feel great about where I’m at. Unfortunately when you have the injury history that I have, sometimes when you don’t practice, things get blown out of proportion. But like I said, I feel great.”
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Chiefs-Chargers Rapid Reaction: A flat start to the 2025 season
But at the start, special teams sparkled
Wideout Tyquan Thornton returned the game’s opening kickoff 42 yards. Although the gain was substantially reduced by a penalty, it gave the unit some momentum. Rookie defensive back Nohl Williams downed Matt Araiza’s second punt of the evening at the Los Angeles 2-yard line, which led to Kansas City’s first defensive stop.
But all of that paled in comparison to what happened at the end of the first half. Getting the ball with 40 seconds left, Mahomes found Thornton for a 38-yard gain. Out of timeouts, Mahomes spiked the ball to stop the clock. Following back-to-back false start penalties, it looked like the team was going to waste a golden opportunity.
But after a pass to Noah Gray gained only three yards on a third-and-15 with 17 seconds left, the special teams unit was ready. With the clock running, the field goal unit sprinted onto the field, managing to snap placekicker Harrison Butker’s 59-yard attempt as the clock hit zero — and Butker narrowed the Chargers’ halftime lead to 13-6.
It’s not as if there weren’t special teams miscues, however. Later, Butker missed an extra point — and then a two-point conversion after the next score failed to make up the difference.
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