Kansas City's Defensive Line Returns To Life In Defeat of Chargers

Four hours and 12 minutes. That's how long it takes to drive from Atlanta, GA, to New Orleans, LA.

It also is the amount of game time that had transpired since the Kansas City Chiefs' defensive unit had sacked an opposing quarterback.

Specifically, the takedown of Los Angeles Chargers' quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday - with Chris Jones and Peter Woods combining for the sack - came with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter with the Chiefs leading 19-6 in a game they would go on to win 22-6. The team's previous sack of the Denver Broncos' Bo Nix - their fourth of the game - had been recorded with 8:28 left in the third quarter of their season-opening 31-10 defeat of the Broncos.

Between those two points were a trio of sackless games, and remember, they even played an extra 10 minutes of overtime in Week 2 and still weren't able to bring Indianapolis Colts' QB Daniel Jones to the ground.

Sure, the Chiefs won all of those games, but life is immeasurably easier when a defense is not only able to put pressure on the opposing QB but wrap them up, which usually puts the opposing offense behind the chains and makes it harder to sustain drives.

Truth be told, Sunday always looked like a day where the Chiefs would break their sack drought. Coming off their bye and facing a winless Chargers' team that was without both of its All-World offensive tackles, it figured that the Chiefs' defensive line would eat.

Helping himself to the biggest portion was defensive end George Karlaftis III.

According to Next Gen Stats, Karlaftis finished the game with one sack and eight QB pressures on 38 pass-rush plays, which equates to a 21.1% pass-rush win rate, with the pressures the second-most in a game in his five-year career. He also added two pass knockdowns at the line of scrimmage.

In addition to Karlaftis, Woods and Jones, the Chiefs also got sacks from defensive end Ashton Gillotte and defensive back Chamarri Conner in the game.

Overall, Herbert was under pressure for most of the game and finished with a 23-for-37 passing line (59.5%) for 204 yards and an interception, good for a lackluster QB rating of 63.3. The Chargers' rushing attack was also nearly non-existent with Herbert leading the way with 26 yards on the ground and Los Angeles totaling 73 as a team on 22 carries for a 3.3 per-carry average.

The efforts of the defense helped the Chiefs cruise to a relatively easy victory and 5-0 record, even on a day when the offense performed in fits and starts for most of the contest, outside of another tour de force performance from running back Kenneth Walker III.

In all, the Chiefs settled for four field-goal attempts from Harrison Butker, three of which he converted, when an extra touchdown or two would've put away their overmatched opponent much earlier.