The Super Bowl MVP Now Carrying Kansas City’s 5-0 Start

Kenneth Walker III ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns as Kansas City beat Los Angeles 22-6 on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs are 5-0, the only unbeaten team in the AFC. Patrick Mahomes threw for 272 yards and no scores in his 100th win as a starter.

The Chargers fell to 0-6 and a bye. Jim Harbaugh, who started five games for the last Chargers team that opened this badly, said the offense has to be addressed.

Kenneth Walker Ran Kansas City to 5-0

Walker needed 19 carries to do the scoring Mahomes did not. He went 33 yards up the middle in the first quarter, then punched in a 2-yard run before halftime, and Kansas City never trailed. Xavier Worthy caught 7 passes for 73 yards. Travis Kelce added 53 yards. Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton were out, so the passing game stayed short and safe, 23 of 30 for Mahomes with one interception.

Harrison Butker made field goals of 44, 50, and 30 yards and missed an extra point after the first touchdown. The Chiefs scored 19 points before half and 3 after it. They still won by 16, because Los Angeles never reached the end zone.

HOW SUNDAY’S POINTS LANDED

1. 11:20, first quarter: Butker hits from 44 yards after a 7-play, 41-yard opening drive, 3-0.
2. 7:21, first quarter: Walker scores from 33 yards on a 6-play, 67-yard drive. The extra point fails, 9-0.
3. 1:33, first quarter: Cameron Dicker answers from 23 yards after 11 plays and 60 yards, 9-3.
4. 1:49, second quarter: Walker scores from 2 yards. Mahomes goes 5-for-5 for 65 yards and runs for 10 on the 80-yard drive. Butker converts, 16-3.
5. 0:02, second quarter: Butker from 50 as time expires, 19-3 at half.
6. Second-half opening drive: Los Angeles reaches the Kansas City 1. A holding penalty stalls it. Dicker kicks from 30, 19-6.
7. 3:52, fourth quarter: Butker from 30, the Chiefs’ only points after half, 22-6.

Walker beat the first man on both scores. Mahomes, grinning later, said the first guy never tackles him. The 33-yard run was a hole, then a race. The 2-yard run was a bounce off a tackle and a crease. Kansas City is 3-0 at home and 3-0 in the AFC West. Denver sits at 4-2. The Raiders are 3-3. The Chargers are 0-3 in the division.

The Back Kansas City Bought in March

Walker is not a midseason patch. In March the Chiefs gave the former Seahawk a three-year deal worth up to $45 million, with $28.7 million guaranteed, after he left Seattle as a free agent. He was 25, a 2022 second-round pick out of Michigan State, and he had just been named Super Bowl LX MVP.

On Feb. 8 in Santa Clara he ran for 135 yards on 27 carries in a 29-13 win over New England, added 26 yards on 2 catches, and became the first running back to win the Pete Rozelle Trophy since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. He led the league in the postseason with 65 carries, 313 yards, and 4 rushing scores in 3 games after Zach Charbonnet tore an ACL in the divisional round.

Kansas City had ranked 25th in rushing at 106.6 yards a game last season and 20th at 4.21 yards per carry. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco each averaged under 4.0. The Chiefs failed to top 100 rushing yards in each of their last 4 games and missed the playoffs for the first time since Andy Reid’s second year on the job. Mahomes was coming off a torn ACL. The run game was the buy.

WHAT WALKER HAS ALREADY PAID BACK

• The volume: 106 carries, 665 rushing yards, 6.3 yards per carry, 6 rushing scores in 5 games.
• The receiving: 14 catches, 95 yards, 2 more touchdowns, 760 yards from scrimmage and 8 scores in all.
• The rate: 133.0 rushing yards a game, and 4 games of 100-plus.
• The standing: He leads the league in rushing, and Kansas City is averaging 159.8 rushing yards a game, second in the NFL.

The Chiefs are scoring 28.0 points a game, fifth in the league, and allowing 16.6, second. That is a different team than the one that ranked 25th on the ground a year ago, and the difference is the man they paid in March.

100 Wins in 131 Starts, Level With Brady

Mahomes reached his 100th win as a starting quarterback in his 131st start, matching Tom Brady for the fewest starts to that mark in the league since 1950. He did it without a touchdown pass, against a 0-6 rival, on a day Kansas City’s short-yardage work was messy and Butker missed twice.

He had not sat with the tape of last December’s meeting with these Chargers, the game in which he tore ligaments in his left knee and Kansas City was knocked out of the postseason, until this past week. He said they had gotten by that pretty quickly. Reid moved to 23-5 in regular-season games after a bye and called winning in this league a hard thing that is not always pretty.

He’s the GOAT, man. He was the one that has kind of shown us how to do it, winning the Super Bowls, and winning every single week. So it’s always an honor if you’re mentioning my name with his name. But it seems like every time I win a game, I’m tying him, so I’m gonna keep winning.

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback

He also joked that he keeps asking when Brady lost another game. San Francisco and Minnesota are 5-0 as well. Kansas City is the AFC’s last unbeaten. The next test is not another 0-6 club. It is Seattle, on Sunday night, with Walker in the backfield against the roster he just left.

WALKER’S FIVE GAMES IN KANSAS CITY

The 70-yard afternoon in Miami is the only game that did not clear 100. The 177-yard night in Las Vegas, with a 76-yard long, remains his high. Sunday’s 128 yards were his third-best output of the year, which is the point of paying a feature back: a good day against a winless team is still a 6.7-yard average and two scores.

Kenneth Walker III rushing yards by game this season:

173
117
70
177
128

What a pickup he's been for the @Chiefs ‼️ pic.twitter.com/mo59AUmIbV

— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026

What 0-6 Looks Like From Harbaugh’s Sideline

Los Angeles has not won since last season. The Chargers are 0-6 for the first time since 2000, and the only other 0-6 start in franchise history was 1975. Miami, at 0-5 and idle, is the only other team in the league without a win. Harbaugh, asked whether new coordinator Mike McDaniel will keep calling plays, would not separate the play caller from the rest of the operation.

There’s no justification. There’s nothing I would say that wouldn’t sound like an excuse. I’m opposed to that to the core, and pointing fingers. But I believe this is a team game. Definitely, offensively, we need to evaluate. We need to look at it all, everything we’re doing, how we’re doing it.

Jim Harbaugh, Chargers head coach, postgame

He also said the job starts with him, that the work in meetings and on the practice field is not showing up, and that the run game, the passing game, and short yardage all have to translate. The Chargers scored a season-low 6 points on 259 yards and are at 15.0 points a game, 30th in the league. Consecutive 11-win seasons are the recent memory. This tape is not that team.

Harbaugh already lived a Chargers collapse from the other side of the ball. In 2000 he appeared in seven games, 1,416 yards, 0-5 as a starter, with 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Ryan Leaf started 9 games and went 1-8. Moses Moreno started 2 and went 0-2. The club finished 1-15 after losing the first 11, and the only win was against Kansas City on a last-second field goal, with Leaf under center. Harbaugh’s last NFL pass came in a Week 11 loss to Miami that year. He is 6-15 as a Chargers starting quarterback across 1999 and 2000. He is 0-6 as their coach in 2026.

The 2000 echo is cheap and it is also accurate. The difference is the roster around Justin Herbert, which is not a Ryan Leaf roster, and an offense that still cannot finish. The live argument in Los Angeles is not whether Harbaugh remembers 2000. It is whether McDaniel’s play sheet survives a bye that nobody in that building wanted.

Herbert Never Found the End Zone

Herbert went 22 of 37 for 204 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception, his eighth of the season, which leads the league. Jack Cochrane picked the throw and nearly took it the other way. Cam Hart later intercepted Mahomes, one of two takeaways each way. Herbert also led Los Angeles with 26 rushing yards on 5 carries. The Chiefs sacked him 4 times for 18 yards, matching their sack total for the entire season coming in. Los Angeles went 0-for-3 on fourth down and 0-for-3 in the red zone. Kansas City went 1-for-4 in the red zone and still left with a 16-point win.

ARROWHEAD, BY THE BOX

Kimani Vidal had 21 yards on 7 carries. Omarion Hampton had 18 on 7. Quentin Johnston’s 57-yard catch was the longest play Los Angeles made, and it still died as a field-goal drive. Ladd McConkey caught 1 pass for 17 yards on the first play of that 60-yard first-quarter march, then took a hit near midfield and was ruled out with a concussion late in the second quarter. He had missed the previous game at Denver with a foot injury.

WHO DID NOT FINISH, OR START

• Chargers line: Tackle Joe Alt and Kayode Awosika were out, and the pocket collapsed on the 4 sacks.
• Chargers skill: Leading receiver Tre’ Harris was out. McConkey left with the concussion. Derwin James Jr. (hamstring), Donte Jackson (hamstring), and Bud Dupree (neck) were inactive. Deane Leonard left in the second half with a concussion.
• Chiefs: Right tackle Jaylon Moore left in the second quarter with a concussion. Kelce left briefly with an ankle injury. Cornerback Nohl Williams missed a few plays with a shoulder and returned.
• The ejection: Chiefs cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace was thrown out early in the fourth quarter for punching Chargers right tackle Alex Harkey.

Herbert said it has been tough and that nothing can change what has happened. He also said the locker room still cares and will keep showing up. Care is not the question at 0-6. Finishing drives is. The Chargers had the ball at the 1 and came away with 3 points. They had 3 failed fourth downs. They had 15 first downs against 22. Attendance was 73,640 on a 68-degree afternoon, and the building was loud for a game that was over at 19-3.

Walker Goes Back to Seattle on Sunday Night

Kansas City visits Seattle on Oct. 25. Walker will see the team that let him walk, on Sunday night, in the stadium where he just won a Super Bowl. The Seahawks are 3-3. That is a real front seven and a crowd that knows his cuts. It is also the first time this season the Chiefs will play a former teammate who can take the afternoon personally.

Los Angeles has a bye to sit with 0-6, a 15.0-point offense, and a coordinator whose play-calling is already under review. Harbaugh said they will look at everything. The tape from Arrowhead is 259 yards, no touchdowns, and a 1-yard-line field goal. Kansas City is 5-0 because the back they bought in March keeps ending drives in the end zone, even on a day Mahomes never did.

Kansas City visits Seattle on Oct. 25, when Walker will see his old locker room, and the Chargers will spend a bye still looking for their first win.