As usual, it wasn’t a blowout.

But the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 4-0 on Sunday with a 17-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers opened the game with a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, helped by a Patrick Mahomes interception. But Kansas City rallied to score the game’s final 17 points, overcoming another season-altering injury after a charge on wide receiver Rashee Rice.

Another narrow victory for Kansas City

The win extends Kansas City’s win streak to 10 games dating back to last season’s playoffs and the regular season. It was the ninth win of the series that Kansas City secured on one possession. Only Kansas City’s 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round was by more than eight points.

Rice suffered a knee injury in the first quarter on another hit against an offense that was already losing its lead and leaving Isiah Pacheco with a broken fibula. On Sunday, Travis Kelce emerged as Kansas City’s best player after a cold start to the season.

Kareem Hunt, who rejoined the Chiefs after Pacheco’s injury, took over for Kansas City in his first game with the team since being cut in 2018 after a video surfaced of him assaulting a woman at a hotel in Cleveland.

Rough start for Chiefs includes turnovers and injuries

The game got off to an iffy start for the Chiefs. Running back Cameron Steele fumbled the ball on Kansas City’s first possession. The Chargers converted the turnover into a 74-yard touchdown drive on their first possession for a 7-0 lead.

Then came a play that had the potential to spiral the game for the Chiefs. It did result in Rice’s injury. Mahomes threw an interception on the first play of Kansas City’s next possession against Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. Rice tracked down Fulton on the interception return and grabbed the ball from behind. He injured his right knee when Mahomes dove in front of Fulton for a tackle.

Rice left the game on a stretcher with a knee injury that head coach Andy Reid described at halftime as “not good”. Further details about the injury were initially unclear. The Chargers retained possession after Fulton’s fumble and converted the turnover into a field goal for a 10–0 lead.

But the Chiefs didn’t hesitate. Kansas City’s defense kept Los Angeles off the scoreboard the rest of the way. The Chiefs offense responded with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to rookie Xavier Worthy and then a field goal in the third quarter to tie the game.

Then Mahomes led a 60-yard drive in the fourth quarter that ended with a Samaje Perine touchdown run with 6:05 left to secure the final 17-10 margin.

Rice’s injury forced Mahomes to look elsewhere than his favorite receiver, who entered Sunday’s game with a team-high 24 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns. No other Chiefs player had more than eight catches or 69 receiving yards in Kansas City’s first three games combined.

Nine-time Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce, who turns 35 next week, had become a secondary option behind Rice but put together his best game of the season in his absence. He led Kansas City with seven catches and 89 yards on Sunday, eclipsing his total of six catches for 69 yards in Kansas City’s previous three games. Worthy added three catches for 73 yards, including his 54-yard score.

Steele found the bench after his clumsy opening drive, clearing the way for Hunt to take over the backfield on his return. He led Kansas City with 14 carries for 69 yards. Steele recorded just two carries for six yards, while Perine added 14 yards on five carries as Kansas City’s secondary option on the ground.

Mahomes finished the day completing 19 of 29 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Meanwhile, Kansas City’s defense shut out the Chargers after the first quarter. They kept constant pressure on quarterback Justin Herbert, who finished the day completing 16 of 27 passes for 179 yards with one touchdown. He was fired twice and faced constant pressure. The Chargers only managed 224 yards of total offense.

It wasn’t a vintage win that’s necessarily expected from the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. But it was a win nonetheless that secured a 4-0 start and a two-game lead in the AFC West, where the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos are all locked in a 2-2 tie.