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The Chiefs Were Flirting With an Unwanted Bit of Super Bowl-Era History Until the Third Quarter
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- The Chiefs Were Flirting With an Unwanted Bit of Super Bowl-Era History Until the Third Quarter
Kansas City has been winning all season, but the Chiefs were carrying around a stat nobody at Arrowhead Stadium wanted attached to an undefeated record. Entering Sunday, they were the third team in the Super Bowl era, which dates to 1967, to win three consecutive games without recording a sack, according to ESPN's Nate Taylor . Getting to the quarterback was the one fix the Chiefs needed heading into the Chargers game.
That streak lasted into the third quarter Sunday, when, with under four minutes left in the period, defensive end Ashton Gillotte brought Justin Herbert to the turf, and Kansas City finished with four sacks in a 22-6 win over the Chargers . Chris Jones and Peter Woods split one, while Chamarri Conner and George Karlaftis added back-to-back sacks late in the fourth quarter.
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The Chiefs' pass rush finally gets home
Gillotte, a second-year defensive end, made it clear the drought had been eating at the defensive front. "Obviously, that's something we've been hunting up, and we've been longing for it," he told KSHB 41's Tod Palmer . Gillotte also said, "Pressures are good, but that's not what we pride ourselves on."
Kansas City had been getting close without finishing. Karlaftis generated eight pressures on 38 pass rushes Sunday, per Next Gen Stats , the second-most of his career in a game. Gillotte has nine pressures this season with a 63.4 pass-rush grade, according to PFF . Linebacker Drue Tranquill pointed to how offenses had been attacking the Chiefs. "Teams have been getting the ball out quick on us," Tranquill told the station . For Woods, a first-round pick in a rookie class raising the Chiefs' ceiling , it was his first career sack.
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The offense did its part, too. Kenneth Walker III ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, keeping him on pace to break long-standing records , and Patrick Mahomes completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards. At 5-0, Kansas City is the AFC's only unbeaten team and heads to Seattle next to face Walker's former club.
For a fan base that spent most of September wondering where the pass rush went, the second half against Los Angeles looked a lot more like the defense Chiefs Kingdom expects from a team back in Super Bowl contention . Four sacks in one half ended the talk about history, and Steve Spagnuolo's group now has a better answer for the next quarterback it sees.
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This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
