The Chargers will limp into their bye week at 0-6 after scoring as many points as they have losses in a 22-6 loss to the undefeated Chiefs.
Here's what to take away from the game.
Kenneth Walker runs wild
Walker carried 19 times for 128 yards on Sunday, averaging 6.7 yards per carry, and scored both of Kansas City's touchdowns despite the Chargers entering the week as one of the ten best run defenses in football by EPA/rush allowed. The reigning Super Bowl MVP forced 5 missed tackles, per PFF, and gained 99 of his yards after contact. Los Angeles had largely held running backs contained but struggled with James Cook against Buffalo as well, so it seems as though the Chargers may be a litmus test for how good an opposing running back is. Walker, who is in the early running for Offensive
Player of the Year, made things easy for the Chiefs on Sunday.
Bizarre run game plan
On the other side, Los Angeles continues to be unable to find anything on the ground despite offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel rising through the coaching ranks as the run game coordinator for the 49ers. Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal carried the ball 7 times each, while Keaton Mitchell only got 2 attempts, but none of the three backs were able to find any traction. Vidal averaged 3 yards a carry, Hampton 2.6, and Mitchell 2.0 against the Chiefs. The most confusing aspect may have been the usage: Vidal took most of his carries between the tackles, where Hampton is best, while Hampton got more of his work on the outside. The Chargers have needed to make their run game less predictable, but on Sunday, the changes they made somehow improved nothing and kept the reads just as easy to predict.
Offense continues to sputter
Overall, what does the 2026 Chargers offense seem to be trying to do? Justin Herbert continues to throw mind-boggling interceptions as he tries to make magic out of terrible situations. Los Angeles again had to start four rookies on the offensive line and gave up 4 sacks to a Chiefs line that had not recorded a sack since Week 1. Two of their top three targets essentially did not play on Sunday with Tre' Harris (hamstring) out and Ladd McConkey (concussion) leaving after recording one catch. KeAndre Lambert-Smith, expected to be the fourth receiver at best going into the season, came off injured reserve and garnered 9 targets. Los Angeles used an injured reserve return slot on backup fullback Scott Matlock, but could not gain a single yard when backed up to their own 1-yard line. It's a bizarre set of players, scheme, and circumstances that has yet to manifest in any kind of positive results for the Chargers.
Special teams upturn
Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken seemed to be aware that Sunday was an audition to keep his job heading into the bye week, as LA's special teams finally dug themselves out of the basement. Linebacker Troy Dye forced a fumble on Chiefs punt returner Nikko Remigio and the Chargers nearly forced another one by trying to push Kristian Fulton into Remigio as he called for a fair catch on the next punt. Returner Derius Davis looked more decisive on a 21-yard punt return that gave the Chargers good field position. Punter JK Scott was not perfect, but his worst punt of the day was erased by that fumble and he did boom a 60-yarder that leaked into the end zone for a touchback as well.
Changes necessary
Los Angeles now heads into its bye week with its head coach on the chopping block. Do the Chargers make a move on Ficken despite the performance on Sunday? Has the offense been bad enough, even after accounting for the unit's decimation by injuries, to fire McDaniel six weeks into a marriage the entire NFL world thought would set the league on fire? Trades could be coming too, whether that's edge rusher Khalil Mack or cornerback Donte Jackson, two veterans on expiring deals with youth behind them at the position. Los Angeles has to do something, even though the season has already slipped away, if general manager Joe Hortiz and head coach Jim Harbaugh want to keep their own seats cool by the end of the year.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers vs. Chiefs: 5 takeaways from LA's loss in Week 6
