The Kansas City Chiefs are far from a well-oiled machine, but they are a 6-2 football team poised to return to the postseason if they can keep this boat steady. The rival Los Angeles Chargers, meanwhile, went from a team with Super Bowl aspirations to a 0-8 dumpster fire that seems miles away from anything approaching a win.
Even the NFL's official social media account is making it tough to sell any sort of positivity around Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel. Herbert was finally able to connect on a big play to KeAndre Lambert-Smith deep down the field on a 4th-down in their own territory. What was the issue? The NFL's account posted a celebratory tweet while they were down 31-9 to the Houston Texans.
On the next possession after that emotionally stirring Lambert-Smith breakaway while down by 22 points, the Chargers (now down by 29 points) connected on a Quentin Johnston touchdown pass that broke a streak of 37 possessions without hitting paydirt. The Chiefs aren't firing on all cylinders, but at least some of those cylinders are going.
Chiefs fans can laugh at NFL's painful Chargers hype
On paper, it's baffling how one of the biggest thorns in Kansas City's side has imploded this titantically. Jim Harbaugh has had success, Herbert has been a terrific quarterback, and McDaniel was the most-requested offensive coordinator hire of 2026. Mix them all together, and this looks worse than Brodie Croyle.
Herbert, once thought to be the player most capable of dethroning Mahomes' perpetual reign atop the AFC West (and, perhaps, the conference as a whole), has just six touchdowns and 11 interceptions on the season. With nine figures left on his contract, the Chiefs' old rival is in a pit that seems nigh impossible to crawl out of without almost divine intervention.
At least the Chargers will be sticklers for details, right? Wrong! Harbaugh looks less like a strict taskmaster who has every part of his operation buttoned up and more like an outdated has-been who has seen the game pass him by. Isn't it better to be scraping out a few wins in a less sexy style than in past years like the Chiefs are?
The Kansas City Chiefs are in a better spot than the Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City, meanwhile, trounced the New York Jets 35-12 in a game where it felt like they didn't even play very well in the first half. Kenneth Walker III waking up on the ground in the second half turned the tide, as did Steve Spagnuolo putting a lid on a Jets offense that has reeled off a few chunk plays.
Most critically, Patrick Mahomes looked like Patrick Mahomes despite taking some bone-jarring hits. Chargers had been able to gloat during the Matt Nagy era, as Mahomes' statistical decline was so sharp that Herbert was often putting up comporable or better numbers.
Now, the Chargers are getting sympathy posts from the official NFL account and number games with one touchdown among their successes from 2026. These two teams could not be trending in more different directions.
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