Chiefs Host Chargers on Thursday Night Football

Week two of the NFL season brings one of the best Thursday night football showdowns of the year.  Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers hit the road to face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs for an AFC West battle.

Week One Victories

Both teams impressed with strong week one wins, but the Chiefs surprised everyone with a 44-21 domination of the Arizona Cardinals.

Mahomes put on a show, completing 30 of his 39 passes throwing for 360 yards and five touchdowns. He’s now 5-0 in season openers, with 18 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

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Tight end Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. It was Kelce’s 30th career game with at least 100 yards receiving.

For the Chargers, a 17-3 halftime lead made it look like it was going to be a one-sided win against the Raiders, but Los Angeles was able to hold off a Vegas comeback to win 24-19.

The Raiders’ defense was no match to the talent of Herbert.  He ended the game having completed 76.5% of his passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers.

Justin Herbert on 10+ yard throws vs Raiders:

⚡ 6/8
⚡ 157 Yards
⚡ 2 TDs
⚡ 156.3 Passer Rating pic.twitter.com/u0cAKUcMcu

— PFF (@PFF) September 12, 2022

Linebacker Khalil Mack made a statement in his debut with Los Angeles recording three sacks and four hits on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.

Battle of the QB’s

Not only are two of the best teams in the division going head-to-head, this game brings possibly the best quarterback matchup of the season. Better yet, they’ll play each other twice this season.

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Looking at Mahomes’ passing yards in his first 33 games, Mahomes threw for 9,925 which is more than anyone in NFL history. For Herbert, he threw 9,629 yards in his first 33 games; the second most in NFL history.

Prior Matchups

This is the fourth meeting between Mahomes and Herbert, and the Kansas City quarterback leads the battle 2-1.

Last season, each team traded wins on the road.

In their first duel, the Chargers defeated the Chiefs 30-24.  Herbert finished with 281 yards passing and four touchdowns without an interception.  Mahomes finished with 260 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

In their second matchup of the season, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 34-28 overtime victory.  The fifth-year QB threw for 410 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Herbert finished with 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The two teams play tonight and will see each other again in Los Angeles on Nov. 20.