While the Kansas City Chiefs brought a six-game winning streak into Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, recent success had widely been due to outstanding defensive performance. Against the Chargers, the Chiefs faced the challenge of playing solid defense, even without defensive tackle Chris Jones and linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (placed on the COVID-19 reserve list), and cornerback L'Jarius Sneed (who returned to the team this week after the death of his brother).
Without Jones, Gay, and Sneed — all key contributors to the defense's turnaround — the unit was not as dominant as in previous weeks.