Would a win over the Chiefs seal Chargers' contender status?

LOS ANGELES -- Coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz were unusually confident in their first news conferences with the Chargers. Harbaugh vowed to win "multiple championships," Hortiz boasted of his two rings won with the Baltimore Ravens and promised owner Dean Spanos that he would win more in Los Angeles.

It was the type of confidence that many coaches and front office staffers tend to stay away from, especially ones taking over a team that was 5-12 last season.

"We're not mailing in a season, no way," Hortiz said. "We're going to try to win this year."

Twelve games into their first season, the Chargers are one of the biggest surprises of this season, holding the AFC's fourth-best record (8-4), with a roster full of castaways and inexperienced players playing the best football of their careers. Still, for the Chargers to be considered serious contenders in the AFC, they will have to topple their division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, who are the winners of back-to-back Super Bowls and eight straight AFC West titles.

It's a point Joe Hortiz acknowledged in that opening press conference, telling reporters, "We know who we're gunning for." The Chargers will have their shot on "Sunday Night Football" (8:15 ET, NBC) to hand the Chiefs (11-1) their second loss of the season and prove that they are more than just a feel-good story this season.

For now, the Chargers are doing their best -- at least publicly -- of calling Sunday just another game.

"If you start looking ahead or you start making one game more important than the other, I think you lose sense of reality and where you're at in the year," quarterback Justin Herbert said. "We've got a very healthy respect for them. We know what they're capable of."

Like much of the rest of the NFL, the Chargers haven't had much luck beating the Chiefs in recent seasons. L.A. is 3-18 against the Chiefs since 2014, including six straight losses, but the games are typically close. Since drafting Herbert in 2020, seven of their nine games against the Chiefs have been decided by one score, but the Chargers are 1-6 in those seven games.

Herbert is 2-7 against the Chiefs, and the biggest difference between the team's wins and losses is how much pressure Kansas City puts on Herbert. In the two wins, the Chiefs pressured Herbert on 26% of his dropbacks, while in losses, he was pressured on 36% of his dropbacks.

Another key to the Chiefs' dominance over the Chargers has been tight end Travis Kelce. Since 2018, Kelce has been averaging 91 yards per game versus the Chargers, which is his third most versus any team he has faced at least three times in that span. Kelce averages 9.2 air yards per target vs. the Chargers since 2018, which is his second-highest against any team he has faced at least three times in that span.

A combination of these issues resulted in the Chargers' most recent loss to the Chiefs in Week 4. Herbert was pressured on 41.4% of his dropbacks, and Kelce caught seven passes for 89 yards, the third-highest total he has had in a game this season.

The Chargers lost 17-10, going scoreless for three quarters, but the team was significantly shorthanded. Herbert was one week removed from a high right ankle sprain and had limited mobility. The team was without some of its best players, including safety Derwin James Jr. (suspension), outside linebacker Joey Bosa (hip), and tackles Joe Alt (MCL sprain) and Rashawn Slater (pectoral).

Still, the Chargers got out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but the offense faded for the remainder of the game, and the defense couldn't keep the Chiefs out of the end zone late. It was a familiar ending for a team that was supposed to be different this season.

Sunday's game will be essential for the Chargers to have a shot at an AFC West crown and harden their playoff chances, but it will also be a game that sheds light on the competitive ceiling of the 2024 Chargers.

"Big game. We're in the playoff fight," Harbaugh said. He continued: "Let's get prepared and get ready to roll."br/]