The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their AFC West bracket on Sunday, facing the Los Angeles Chargers in a battle between two of the game’s most talented quarterbacks.

After a confusing start to the game for Kansas City, both sides of the ball eventually made it close at halftime. In the last two rounds it remained well within reach, but the visitors managed to escape with a victory. With their 17-10 If they win, the Chiefs move to 4-0 on the year and create a two-game gap between them and the Chargers.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday’s game.

It’s safe to say that the Chiefs haven’t been their sharpest early this season, but have still produced mostly favorable results. The offensive side of the ball in particular is a mixed bag four weeks into the year. After putting up a touchdown and a field goal on the opening drives in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively, Patrick Mahomes was ejected early last weekend. On Sunday’s first offensive possession, rookie fullback Carson Steele turned the ball over on a fumble.

The poor execution didn’t stop there, however. Kansas City’s defense has given up a score on every opening drive this season: three touchdowns and a field goal. An anemic Los Angeles offense marched down the field on a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive on Sunday. On three of its four first attempts this year, Steve Spagnuolo’s group has allowed the opposition to register ten or more plays. If the Chiefs want to make things easier for themselves in the future, it starts with a better start.

A week ago, the Chiefs gave up a touchdown to the Atlanta Falcons on two of their first three drives. After that, though, the worst thing they did was surrender a field goal to Kirk Cousins ​​and company. Spagnuolo’s defense is far from perfect, but over the years it has been shown that the defense should be judged by its ability to adapt over time. Sunday’s game in Los Angeles was a perfect example of this.

After the aforementioned opening possession, the Chargers scored a field goal and punted four straight times. On those four drives, they ran 13 plays for a total of 10 yards. To open the second half, kicker Cameron Dicker missed a field goal. The fourth quarter started with Chris Jones pressuring Herbert, leading to a turnover drop. Jones and Tershawn Wharton helped generate pressure later, and a Jones sack sent the ball back to the Chiefs. The Chargers never saw it again on offense. Kansas City’s defense is the ultimate closer.

After an already rough start to the game, the Chiefs added insult to injury – injury upon insult, really – when wide receiver Rashee Rice went down after the Mahomes interception. The two-time MVP accidentally took out his No. 1 target during the passing game, and initial feelings surrounding the knee issue aren’t great. More clarity will surely come within the next 24 hours, but for now it’s hard not to think about how the offense will change if Rice misses time.

In Week 4, Rice ranked top three in the NFL in targets, receptions and receiving yards. His ability to make short and medium passes, then move upfield and maintain great contact balance cannot be replicated. Fortunately for the Chiefs, two other high-level pieces came into the offense (more on that in a second). Longer term, it seems nearly impossible for Kansas City to thrive without Rice. There is not enough talent in the stable. For their own good, they hope that this will not be the case in the end.

It’s been a quiet start to the season for one Travis Kelce. He was targeted 12 times and recorded eight receptions for 69 yards in Weeks 1-3. He managed to surpass that yardage total in the first half of Sunday’s game with 74. Overall, the future Hall of Fame pass catcher finished with 89. Week 4 served as a good reminder that Kelce is still capable of nice statistical performances to deliver. (It should also quiet some of the negative discourse around him – the tape always showed this.)

After Rice left the game, wide Xavier Worthy delivered perhaps the best signature moment of his rookie season thus far. According to Next generation statisticsHis 54-yard touchdown in the first half put him at more than 21 miles per hour, making him the third-fastest ball carrier this year. More importantly, the 62.2 air yards the ball traveled marked the longest air yard completion Mahomes has had in a game. For an offense that preached that it wanted to get back to the deep ball in 2024, this was a nice start. Finally an important one came.

Read more: How a pre-draft interview sold Leo Chenal Chiefs’ Steve Spagnuolo