Five wins by mid-October sounds a lot better than six wins for an entire season. It's amazing how much difference a year can make for the Kansas City Chiefs. After last season's freefall, it feels good to see K.C. back on top of the AFC with a perfect 5-0 record through Week 6. Sunday's home victory over the Los Angeles Chargers also gives them a 3-0 record against their divisional opponents in the AFC West.
The Chiefs got in their own way time and again against the Chargers, but this team has the margin to win anyway. Their 22-6 victory wasn't sexy, but the Chiefs got the job done. We've got a lot of winners and losers from a game that was memorable in many ways.
Winner(s): Chiefs defensive front
Sunday was a tremendous day for the Chiefs' defensive line, and the timing was perfect. The Chiefs' front line has been generating consistent pressure all year, but a failure to sack the quarterback in three straight games had drawn the ire of fans looking for something to complain about. In Week 6, however, the Chiefs were able to finish time and again en route to four sacks of Justin Herbert on the afternoon.
What was amazing was just how good several players looked in the process. George Karlaftis is having a strong season overall and racked up his first sack of the year. Ashton Gillotte played the best game of his career versus the Chargers and had a sack after getting called for a ridiculous roughing the passer penalty earlier in the game. Peter Woods and Chris Jones also split a sack. R Mason Thomas was affecting everything. (And credit to safety Chamarri Conner for sacking Herbert for an 8-yard loss to help seal the victory.)
The Chiefs also locked down the run. Khyiris Tonga was a force up front. Woods and Jones had strong interior plays there as well. The Chargers' leading rusher was Herbert with 26 yards and the entire offense averaged 3.3 yards/carry. Just a brilliant effort by the Chiefs' defensive line, a unit that's deeper and more talented than any other season in the last half-decade.
Winner: Kenneth Walker
It's hard to even know what to say at this point. We're out of superlatives, and it's only Week 6. MVP talk feels silly for a running back most years, but what voter isn't writing down Walker's name at this stage? He's earned 665 rushing yards and 6 rushing scores in his first five games in K.C. Okay, this is too obvious, so let's move on to other things.
Loser: Nikko Remigio
Is there a single area in which Nikko Remigio's presence makes the Chiefs roster better? That sounds personal, but at this point, it's just hard to find any way to defend the use of a roster spot on Remigio at all. There's zero dynamism as a returner. There's nothing added at all offensively. Whatever trust he'd earned from Dave Toub over other options—Brashard Smith, Emmett Johnson—disappeared with multiple fumbles on Sunday. There's not even a body of past work to reference, nor is there any forecasted upside to hope for. There's nothing.
Winner: L'Jarius Sneed
L'Jarius Sneed entered the bye on a tough stretch. A couple of tough appearances in which he was burned multiple times in coverage lowered his stock considerably, even as the Chiefs continued to use him more than expected. In Week 6, however, despite coming into the game with a "questionable" injury designation, Sneed played a very solid game against the Chargers. Perhaps that's partly to do with how poorly L.A. looked offensively, but Sneed deserves a post-game shout-out for putting together an impressive performance.
Winner/Loser: Chris Roland-Wallace
Chris Roland-Wallace's day is not easily categorized. On the positive side, he intercepted Justin Herbert on a play that was ultimately nullified by an egregious roughing the passer call on Ashton Gillotte. There was also the three-yard tackle for loss on wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the excellent stop for no gain on Oronde Gadsden. Roland-Wallace was a major factor on several key defensive plays. At the same time, CRW was also ejected for throwing a punch with 20 seconds left to go in the third quarter, leaving the defense without him for the most important minutes of the game. It was stupid and immature. Thus, we're making Roland-Wallace a winner and a loser.
Winner: Jack Cochrane
Jack Cochrane has taken his lumps as a backup linebacker who is often given a few too many reps for his skill set. Opposing coordinators have been able to create mismatches by keeping the Chiefs from making substitutions once he's in there at times. He also has a history of special teams penalties. But if it sounds like we're piling on, we also have to give him credit for his 48-yard interception return at the beginning of the second quarter. A career highlight, to be sure, and Cochrane deserves his kudos here.
Winner: Xavier Worthy
The Chiefs needed Xavier Worthy to step up. In the wake of multiple injuries to the top of the wide receiver depth chart, Worthy is the most talented player remaining in the room. On Sunday, he looked like it. The Chargers had no answer for his speed across the middle, and the Chiefs picked up considerable yards when Mahomes hit him in stride. Worthy caught all 7 of his targets for a team-leading 73 yards. Such a performance eases the pressure for everyone, including Worthy.
Losers: AFC West rivals
It wasn't that long ago that the AFC West was in consideration for the toughest division in football. After the first month and a half of a new season, is there a single team other than the Chiefs that would scare anyone? The Raiders are feisty, but they've got serious roster issues at key positions. The Broncos are in second place at 4-2, but Bo Nix and that offense look pathetic. The Chargers are 0-6. The Chiefs have a 1.5-game lead over everyone else, and it's hard to imagine they relinquish that hold with the way the rest of the division looks.
Loser: Harrison Butker
How concerned should we be, Chiefs Kingdom? Butker's effectiveness from long distance is a thing of the past. A missed extra point doesn't inspire much confidence either. If the Chargers had put up a better fight, Butker's miscues on Sunday—the XP, the 52-yard miss, the nearly 30-yard miss—would be a much bigger talking point than they are.
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