Relief. The LA Chargers have gotten the monkey off of their backs. For the first time since September 26th, 2021, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs.
It was truly one of the most complete team wins of any recent Chargers' season. Justin Herbert and his weapons were cooking while the offensive line took care of business. It wasn't a perfect night on the defensive side of the ball, but they held the Chiefs to just 21 points despite forcing zero turnovers. It's arguably the best showing the Chargers have had in terms of containing Patrick Mahomes in his nine year career.
Here were the standout performances from a dominant Chargers' win over the Chiefs from São Paulo.
OC Greg Roman
I'm not doing this as a ranking of performances by any means, but felt that it was necessary to talk about Greg Roman first. The Chargers went out and got weapons this offseason to build on the offensive improvements made last year. As a result, the question for me going into this season was how aggressive Roman would be.
He went for it all! Four wide receiver sets, tons of play action, committing to a pass happy gameplan even with the lead: it was possibly the least stereotypical Roman gameplan of all time. Part of that is the Chargers just having better offensive personnel than they had last year. But Roman deserves a ton of credit for realizing what the strength of the team was going to be on this particular gameday.
Even the small stuff like the direct snap to Tyler Conklin which was very Mark Andrews-adjacent out of the Ravens playbook was great. Roman catches a lot of flack, but last night was a special performance considering the magnitude of the game and his use of the personnel.
QB Justin Herbert
Justin Herbert went 25-34 with 318 yards, 3 TDs, and a 131.7 passer rating. He consistently took what the defense gave him, especially on his game sealing run and his 32 rushing yards on the evening.
Cool, calm, collected. It was the best blocking upfront Herbert has seen against the Chiefs in quite some time. He took advantage of it with darts to Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Keenan Allen when they got open.
Herbert has his doubters in the national media following what was a poor showing by him against the Texans. But the truth remains clear: when Herbert has the offensive pieces and the play calling is clicking around him, he steps up and delivers.
LT Joe Alt
41 pass blocking snaps, 0 pressures, 100 pass blocking efficiency. Can't draw it up better than that for the second-year Notre Dame product. Alt was faced with a tough task going back to the left side of the line following the Rashawn Slater injury. He excelled in spite of the switch.
He was so good at left tackle that you start to wonder about what the future looks like with Rashawn Slater returning in 2026. Does Alt move back to RT? Would Slater go to RT? Could he kick inside?
Whole world of possibilities, but that's a discussion for another day. It was a very promising 2025 debut for Alt in leading a much better than expected effort from the offensive line.
WRs Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, and Ladd McConkey
It was arguably the most smooth game of Quentin Johnston's career. He's had better statistical outputs than 79 yards, but he looked confident as a route runner. Add in two touchdowns where he flame broiled the defense:
Ladd McConkey picked up right where he left off with a cool six receptions for 74 yards. He and Herbert continue to share a special trust and connection in finding the soft spots in the defense together.
Speaking of connection with Herbert: welcome back to the Chargers, Keenan Allen. In his first game back with the team, Allen had seven receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown. Allen picked up six first downs in particular and lived up to his Mr. 3rd down persona. For all the questions about role and fit with McConkey, it looked pretty natural in Week 1.
LB Daiyan Henley
Daiyan Henley was maybe the most impactful player in terms of setting the tone on defense last night. He had a huge QB spy sack on Mahomes. He got right up on the line of scrimmage and walloped an Isiah Pacheco run before it started. Henley was second on the team in tackles with eight to Alohi Gilman's nine. He and S Derwin James really limited which parts of the field the Chiefs were able to have offensive success at.
LG Zion Johnson
One pressure allowed all night for Zion Johnson. He did relatively well with the Chiefs' interior, including one Chris Jones:
In Johnson's two games against the Chiefs last season, he gave up seven pressures and a sack. For the first game in a decisive contract year, it was a good showing. Media and fans will likely still have their doubts about Johnson until he strings multiple solid outings together. But he did everything that was asked of him and more on Friday night.
S Derwin James
Biting on the Travis Kelce touchdown aside, Derwin James had a great game. James had six tackles and five stops. Kelce was held to just two catches with the Florida State product playing in control throughout most of the game.
Along with Henley, James embodied the Jesse Minter nature of flying around on defense while still playing responsibly. He could be in contention for yet another All-Pro level season if he keeps it up.