Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes talks challenge of facing Chargers defense

Gavino Borquez
·2 min read

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has dominated defenses across the NFL, but the one team that he has struggled to find a groove against in recent play is the Chargers.

In both matchups last season, Los Angeles held Mahomes under 200 passing yards, plus a combined two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Now, Mahomes is preparing to face a physical and heady Chargers defense that has faces that he’s seen before, but also a few that he has yet to see in the blue and gold, including Linval Joseph, Kenneth Murray and Chris Harris Jr.

“Yeah, they do a great job in their scheme and they have a lot of great players that make plays. They played us really well last year, that defense, holding us to some low numbers, stuff that we had been trending on getting better numbers, better scores, and all of that different type of stuff,” Mahomes said.

For Los Angeles, it all starts up front with the stout defensive line that was a force to be reckoned with in the season opener against the Bengals.

“I think when you see those pass rushers first off, they have a lot of pass rushers all across that D-Line. They added (Linval) Joseph and the young (Jerry) Tillery, that kid is really playing well.”

Last Sunday, the guys up front delivered in a big way, amassing 22 pressures, four quarterback hits, 15 hurries and three sacks. In order to minimize Mahomes’ time with the ball in his hands, they must carry that momentum into this weekend.

As for the rest of the back seven, Mahomes recognized the playmakers that the units have, even without safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill.

“Then you get to the linebackers and there’s a lot of young talent there. With the DBs, a couple of Pro Bowlers and All-Pro guys. They have a really good defense and a really good scheme. We have to do our best job of being within ourselves and finding a way to put points on the board.”

The Chargers defense must keep the Chiefs offense off the scoreboard and the field as much as possible while managing to create turnovers if they want to pull off the upset.