The Chargers came into Sunday’s game against the Chiefs with three losses by a combined eight points, but they didn’t have to lament another narrow defeat after the final whistle at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City shut the Chargers out in the second half and Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes in a 31-17 Chiefs win. The loss dropped the Chargers to 2-4, which is out of line with their own expectations heading into the season. Sunday’s game saw them play well offensively while struggling defensively in the first half before things went the other way for both units for most of the second half.
When the game was over, head coach Brandon Staley said he believes the team needs to reboot itself in order to start firing on all cylinders.
“It’s frustrating. I can’t tell you why the season is starting this way, but it is,” Staley said, via the team’s website. “It’s no one’s responsibility but mine. We’ve got a good football team and we need to reset as a football team. We need to reset. We’ve had two tough losses in a row but we’ve got a good football team. We’ve just got to make sure that we keep it simple, keep doing the little things well because this is a good group of guys. This is a good football team and we need to get back to work.”
Sunday’s loss wasn’t similar to many of the Staley era because there weren’t late blunders that led to a heartbreaking defeat, but it did show a sizable gap between them and the Chiefs and a failure to start moving in the other direction in the near future will likely have people around the Chargers wondering if a larger reset is needed to take the team where it wants to go.
