Four must-see KC Chiefs games in 2021

Week 15 – @ L.A. Chargers

Here’s the thing that Chiefs fans understand as well as anyone else: the quality of a team’s quarterback is going to make or break the franchise’s chances at meaningful success. With Patrick Mahomes under center, Chiefs fans have it made in the shade as they know, as long as he is healthy, their favorite team is going to be considered among the annual Super Bowl favorites.

Justin Herbert is that hope for the L.A. Chargers and his rookie season showcased the sort of elite potential that allowed him to shine despite starting in the shadow of Philip Rivers’ departure. In his first season in SoCal, Herbert threw 31 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions and looked the part of a big-game quarterback. In his first start—an unscheduled one in Week 2 against the Chiefs last season—he took K.C. to overtime only to lose on a long Harrison Butker field goal by a final score of 23-20.

Later in the season, when he’d earned a full season’s worth of reps, he got a chance to match up with K.C. again and came away with a dominant win. However, it was also against the Chiefs backups since head coach Andy Reid was resting his guys for the postseason.

So basically, we have one close game in an unscheduled debut and an easy victory over K.C.’s backups. At this point, it’s simply impossible to tell what an experienced Justin Herbert would look like against the reigning division champions, but a great quarterback can close that gap, especially if the Bolts can protect him better with Rashawn Slater and Cory Linsley up front.

No one has worried too much about the rest of the AFC West for a long time, and there’s still no reason to fret. However, the Chargers look the part with Herbert at quarterback and it will be a new annual tradition to see whether they’ve retooled enough around him in order to make the leap.