On Friday night, the defending AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs will open up the 2025 season against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil. After a long offseason, the Patrick Mahomes era continues — giving Kansas City another chance to compete for an NFL Championship in Super Bowl LX.
Entering their second season under head coach Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles hopes to build upon a strong 2024 campaign in which it made the postseason, but was eliminated by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round.
This early AFC West showdown could end up being an important factor in the 2025 season.
In last season’s inaugural NFL game in Brazil — a matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles — the headlines weren’t about the Eagles’ victory. Instead, they were dominated by the field conditions — which appeared to have played a role in an injury sustained by Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love.
The NFL has assured both teams that field conditions have been improved, but it will be worth watching whether this poses an issue to either team.
2. Defensive tackle rotations
The Chiefs made headlines by releasing veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel at the 53-man cutdown. After being a key piece on the 2019 and 2020 teams, Pennel rejoined the team in 2023, adding another Super Bowl ring and playing a crucial role on the defense’s running downs.
Pennel then signed with the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad, which effectively ended his second Kansas City stint. Since he had been in the team’s starting rotation for most of training camp, Pennel’s release was surprising — even though right before his release, the Chiefs had made a trade to bring defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi back to the squad. In March, the team had allowed Nnadi to walk after seven seasons with the team.
But even with Nnadi back in the fold, Kansas City is thin at the position. All-Pro Chris Jones headlines the group, which also includes new veteran Jerry Tillery and rookie Omarr Norman-Lott. We’ll probably see defensive end Mike Danna rotate inside on some passing downs, too.
In 2024, the Chargers were one of the league’s best rushing teams — and with first-round rookie Omarion Hampton poised to take most of the carries, stopping the run will be a major priority for the defensive line.
3. The left side of the offensive line
Rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and left guard Kingsley Suamataia will have their work cut out for them against a solid Charger defensive front — one that includes future Hall of Famer Khalil Mack. One of the league’s fiercest pass rushers, he’ll be facing a rookie in his first career start.
Early on, the Chargers will probably challenge both Simmons and Suamataia with a combination of blitzes and line stunts that use Mack and edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu, who finished 2024 with 8.5 sacks. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has also shown exotic looks on third down. We should watch for him to give the inexperienced part of the Kansas City’s line lots of different tricks.
Simmons and Suamatia will need to remain true to their training, finding a way to balance the highs and lows they might face.
4. When will the Chiefs go deep?
Ever since the offseason began, the Chiefs have been emphasizing pushing the ball downfield — getting back to the explosive offense that was the hallmark of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ early years. With star receiver Rashee Rice suspended for the first six games of the season, the Chiefs could try to make up for his absence by going downfield.
Former first-round pick Xavier Worthy is primed for a breakout season. Alongside Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton, he should provide the downfield speed the team hasn’t had since trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins.
Throughout training camp, Mahomes threw the ball downfield with confidence. Watch to see how quickly Kansas City will turn to its downfield passing game — and how well it works. Given time, the Chiefs could transform an offense that has played pretty conservatively over the last couple of seasons.
5. Trent McDuffie against Ladd McConkey
The matchup between these two Macs — the Kansas City cornerback and the Los Angeles wide receiver — will be important. McDuffie is emerging as one of the NFL’s best slot defenders, while McConkey is becoming one of the top slot receivers. Both are key cogs in their teams’ systems, and the matchup between the two players could be one of the game’s deciding factors.
In 2024, McDuffie made his second All-Pro team — while McConkey finished his rookie season with over 1,000 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
While McConkey didn’t play against the Chiefs in last season’s Week 14, he caught five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in the Week 4 matchup. Now established as a favorite target for quarterback Justin Herbert, McConkey could see a big 2025 — but in the season opener, he will have to face one of the league’s best.
It should be quite a show.
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