Who stood out in the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Chargers? A closer look at Pro Football Focus' grades from the matchup highlights a few prime performances alongside some disappointing showings.
The most striking dichotomy of the Chiefs' grades from the weekend come from the linebacker position. Versatile defensive weapon Leo Chenal, in just 23 snaps (38% of KC's defensive workload on Sunday night), recorded a team-best 82.7 PFF grade. Drue Tranquill, who has struggled for stretches of the season, earned a fourth-best 71.9 mark. Meanwhile, defensive stalwart Nick Bolton recorded the third-worst PFF grade among KC's 30 qualifying players with a 37.2.
Chenal's limited workload helps protect him from having his weaknesses exposed in coverage, while Tranquill and Bolton rarely leave the field. After Sunday's game, Tranquill now has a higher season-long grade than Bolton, 64.4 to 63.4.
As noted by Jordan Foote of Kansas City Chiefs On SI, Chenal and Tranquill both earned "winner" status in KC's victory:
"Kansas City's linebacker play hasn't always been the best this season, to say the least," Foote wrote. "Leo Chenal, who blocked a field to go win Week 10's game over the Denver Broncos, deserves the least blame, but he had some quiet efforts elsewhere in the middle third of the year. Drue Tranquill got off to an extremely slow start to the season and is just now beginning to play better football. Luckily for the Chiefs, Chenal made an impact against the run and pass early on Sunday and Tranquill finished second on the team with seven tackles."
On Sunday night, veteran left tackle D.J. Humphries made his Chiefs debut and his first return to the football field since suffering a torn ACL on December 31, 2023. While Humphries was charged with allowing eight pressures on 40 pass-blocking snaps (a 20% pressure rate) by Next Gen Stats, PFF gave Humphries the blame for just five of those pressures. Humphries recorded an overall grade of 52.3, with run blocking and pass blocking grades both in the mid-50s.
Humphries left late in the game due to a hamstring injury. On Monday, head coach Andy Reid said Humphries would have an MRI to determine the details of the injury.
Even without No. 1 wide receiver Ladd McConkey, the Chargers were able to find offensive success in the second half, often by challenging KC downfield. Across both sides of the ball, the Chiefs unit that PFF viewed most unfavorably was Kansas City's safeties.
The Chiefs' starters, Justin Reid and Bryan Cook, earned PFF's fifth-worst and second-worst grades, respectively, with Reid receiving a 51.6 overall grade and Cook taking a 34.9. Last among qualified players, rookie Jaden Hicks was given a 29.4 overall grade.
Hicks has seen his workload grow throughout the second half of the season, eclipsing double-digit defensive snaps each of the last five weeks, peaking with 24 snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13 before setting a new career-high with 26 against LA.
Chiefs week 14 PFF grades vs the Chargers pic.twitter.com/09R871DNJR
— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) December 9, 2024
Safety-turned-slot cornerback Chamarri Conner received a more favorable review — a solid-enough 65.3 overall grade — after struggling in the slot through long stretches of the season. While Conner never aligned as a safety against LA according to PFF (instead playing exclusively in the slot, in the box, or near the line of scrimmage), his usage is worth noting while KC deals with problems at safety.
Related Reading: Chiefs vs. Chargers Snap Counts: Running Back, Wide Receiver, Defensive End Stand Out for Different Reasons