Chargers-Chiefs Final Score: Bolts lose on road 17-31

The Chargers fail to capitalize on opportunities again, fall to division rival

The outlook of the Chargers 2024 season got a little bleaker today, as the Chargers once again dropped a winnable game thanks to an inconsistent offensive performance that is leaving fans wondering, “What happened to the elite aerial attack that was promised with the hiring of Kellen Moore in the offseason?”

On the road, needing a big to keep from falling to two games under .500 on the year, the Bolts fell short on the road 31-17 in Kansas City.

This marks the first time since Justin Herbert took over as quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers that a game against the Kansas City Chiefs was decided by a differential of more than six points. At this point, one point remains painstakingly clear as we approach the trade deadline: the Chargers have regressed in Brandon Staley’s third year as head coach.

The Chargers should have some difficult conversations behind closed doors, as they have one week until the trade deadline comes and goes. The current configuration of the roster leveraged future cap health to pry the Bolts’ championship window open one more year before they’d have to replace some core players on both sides of the ball.

Now, the Chargers are going to have to ask if it’s worth it to keep this roster together now, or sell off some of their more expensive veterans that could supply them with draft capital to assist in a rebuild.

Although the Spanos family isn’t likely to do anything extreme like a mid-season firing, it’s very, very hard to be optimistic about the remainder of the 2023 season, and not start to sweat what we’ll be giving up next year just to try and climb back up to .500 and a chance to squeak into the playoffs.