Chargers receive middling game grade in loss to Chiefs

The Chargers (2-4) lost 31-17 to the Chiefs (6-1) on Sunday afternoon on the road in Kansas City. The first half looked like every other recent matchup between these two teams as they combined for five touchdowns in the second of what seemed to be another AFC West shootout in the making.

But the second half brought with it just seven points in the fourth quarter which wound up being the final nail in the coffin for the Chargers.

So a strong first half and a lackluster second half essentially washed each other out. You meet in the middle of those two performances and it’s not surprising the Chargers came away with a middling “C” grade from CBS Sports NFL analyst John Breech.

“Justin Herbert and the Chargers were able to go just about toe to toe with the Chiefs in the first half despite Kansas City’s eye-popping offensive production,” said Breech. “However, their second-half offensive performance was a letdown. Two interceptions and three punts just won’t cut it. Props to the Los Angeles defense buckling down and only allowing seven points after halftime, but Herbert and the offense have to be better going forward. They had their chances but simply couldn’t execute in key moments.”

After being the only team through the first four weeks of the regular season to score at least 24 points in their games up to that point, the Chargers offense has simmered down with exactly 17 points in each of their past two outings. In those games, they scored only 10 points in the second halves with all of them coming against Dallas.

If you go back through the Raiders game, the Chargers have failed to score any second half points in two of their last three games while Justin Herbert has thrown four interceptions to just one touchdown.

To state the obvious, this is not acceptable in the slightest.

Luckily, the Chargers get two easier matchups over the next two weeks with the 2-5 Bears coming to town for Sunday Night Football and then a trip to the 3-3 Jets for Monday Night Football. I’ll just say it now: the Chargers must not only beat both of these teams, they must beat them more convincingly than just a one-score victory. That’s what great teams would do (barring a rare down game for the Eagles).

If the expectation isn’t exactly that, then I don’t think fans should be touting the Chargers as anything other than an average team striving for a record better than .500 record the rest of the way.