Are Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers ready for measuring stick game against Chiefs?

National Football League

Updated Sep. 27, 2024 10:15 a.m. ET

During his introductory press conference back in January, Jim Harbaugh said he planned on winning multiple Super Bowls as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, a team that has yet to hoist a Lombardi Trophy.

Well, to do that, he’ll have to get past the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who happen to be in his own division. Harbaugh gets his first chance on Sunday in an AFC West matchup vs. the Chiefs at SoFi Stadium.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Harbaugh told reporters this week. “And we’re attacking it as such.”

The Chargers have lost their past five games against Kansas City. But Harbaugh has a 5-1 record against the Chiefs as a player and a coach, including a 2-0 mark against Andy Reid. The two last met in 2014, when Harbaugh led the San Francisco 49ers to a 22-17 win over Kansas City.

Acknowledging the importance of Sunday’s game, Harbaugh gave props to Patrick Mahomes and how the Chiefs have dominated the past few years.

“He’s had an amazing career,” Harbaugh said of Mahomes. “There’s nothing he can’t do.”

In addition to facing the league’s best quarterback, the Chargers might be going into Sunday’s game without several key players due to injuries and a suspension.

Hard-hitting safety Derwin James lost his appeal with the league and will serve a one-game suspension for repeated violations of the rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, according to the NFL. The latest play under the microscope was James’ head-to-head collision with Pittsburgh tight end Pat Freiermuth last week.

Harbaugh was disappointed in the league’s decision.

“Derwin, to the best of his ability, has tried to play the game safely,” Harbaugh said. “He genuinely does not want to hurt any other player, and the film is Exhibit A.”

On the injury front, star quarterback Justin Herbert is still nursing a high-ankle sprain. Left tackle Rashawn Slater (strained pec), right tackle Joe Alt (MCL knee sprain) and defensive end Joey Bosa (hip) all missed practice on Wednesday.

Harbaugh said an MRI on Herbert’s right ankle came back negative and that he’s progressing. The QB, who was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, said he’s feeling less pain than last week and will do everything he can to play.

Herbert started last week against the Steelers but left the game in the third quarter after reaggravating the ankle injury.

“It’s going day-to-day, see how it is and keep getting better,” he said. “We felt like I was in a position last week to play. And I felt comfortable and safe knowing that I could move around and do as much as I could to protect myself.

“But we got to that point where they thought it was the best decision to take me out because I couldn’t move or protect myself. I think as long as we keep getting better day-to-day here, we’ll see where we end up.”

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The Chargers have a bye week after facing the Chiefs, so the team could give Herbert two weeks to heal before a Week 6 contest at Denver. Herbert also missed two weeks during training camp with a plantar fascia issue in his right foot.

Taylor Heinicke would get the start if Herbert cannot play. Picked up in a trade just before the start of the regular season, Heinicke went 1-3 as a starter for the Atlanta Falcons last season and has a 13-15-1 career record.

Potentially on the plus side for the Chargers, they will face a struggling Mahomes this weekend. He has his lowest passing yards (659), passing touchdowns (5) and passer rating though the first three games of any season in his career.

But the Chiefs are still 3-0, and Mahomes is still Mahomes. He will make his 100th career start on Sunday and already has the most wins by a quarterback in his first 100 starts (77). He also has the most passing yards (29,083), touchdown passes (224) and pass completions (2,450) of any QB in NFL history in his first 100 starts.

No matter who’s under center for the Chargers, Harbaugh will continue his ground-and-pound approach. Running back J.K. Dobbins is third in the NFL in rushing (310) and averaging a league-leading 7.4 yards per carry. And the Chiefs are allowing 133.7 rushing yards per contest, tied for No. 13 in the NFL.

“There’s a lot of schemes to unpack,” Harbaugh said this week. “[Chiefs defensive coordinator] Steve Spagnuolo has a vast array. I think there’s some coordinators who call things off the call sheet. I think he does some of that. But it’s all right there in his head, and the way he calculates is very impressive.”

A win over the Chiefs would take the Chargers to 3-1 on the young season. Since 1990, teams that start 3-1 have a 65% chance of making the playoffs, while teams that start 2-2 have a 37% chance.

So beating Kansas City would not only send a message to the back-to-back champs, it would also give Harbaugh a head start on guiding the Chargers to the postseason in his first year.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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