(News4usOnline) – In the first two games of the 2025 NFL season, the Los Angeles Chargers were tasked to go up against AFC West Division rivals the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Actually, if you include the Denver Broncos, whom the Chargers face Sunday at SoFi Stadium, it is three divisional opponents coming right out of the gate.
So far, the Chargers have not blinked, beating the Chiefs, a team that has won nine straight AFC West Division titles, in Brazil to start the season, and then neutralizing the Raiders during a Monday Night Football game.
That’s two games and two big wins in a row for head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert. After their 20-9 win against the Raiders, the Chargers now sit on top of the division, though it’s only been two games into the season.
“Great road win, division game,” Harbaugh said. “Real blue-collared game. I thought special teams played winning football, the offense played winning football, and the defense…guardians of victory today. They had our back, our front, our side. It was a…just a tremendous defensive performance.”
The Chargers forced Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith into three interceptions and limited the Raiders’ passer to 180 yards through the air. The Raiders didn’t do much on the ground, either, rushing for just 68 net yards.
But beating division rivals on the road is a big deal and not something one can take lightly, especially knowing you have another 15 games to play.
The biggest news to come out of the Chargers’ victory was not that they handed one of their division rivals a defeat, but the gruesome injury that linebacker or edge rusher Khalil Mack sustained.
What should have been a celebratory night for the Chargers was somewhat tempered due to the serious injury to Mack, a nine-time Pro Bowl player and a three-time All-Pro. Mack is in his fourth season with the Chargers, having started his NFL career with the Raiders and later playing for the Chicago Bears.
Photo credit: Melinda Meijer /News4usOnline
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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