Week 1 in the NFL is finally here! For the first time since 2022, the Kansas City Chiefs won't get the honor of hosting a team to kick off the 2025 regular season. Instead, their Week 1 game will take place on Friday night in Brazil against the [Los Angeles Chargers](https://boltbeat.com/).
As was the case with the majority of their games last year, the Chiefs' two match-ups against the Chargers were both close. The Chiefs won the first match-up against L.A. last year 17-10 and the second one was a much more narrow margin with the final being a 19-17 Kansas City victory.
That being said, the Chargers did a nice job at slowing down the Chiefs and preventing them from scoring in both of those match-ups. That's why if Xavier Worthy can build on the impressive rookie season he had and carry that into his sophomore NFL season, that could make all the difference in these Chiefs/Chargers games in 2025.
Why Xavier Worthy is the Chiefs' X-Factor vs. Chargers in Week 1
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Worthy already had notable games against the Chargers as a rookie, tallying three grabs for 73 yards and a touchdown in the Week 4 win and notching five catches for 41 yards in the Week 14 victory. Worthy's first game against the Chargers was certainly a memorable one and was needed considering Rashee Rice was lost for the year in that game.
It took Worthy a bit to figure it out during his rookie year but by the end of the season, he was looking like a lethal threat for Patrick Mahomes and this Chiefs offense. If Worthy can build on being a downfield passing threat, then perhaps this offense could transform back into what it was during the early years of the Mahomes era.
The AFC West is going to be the most competitive it's been in quite some time and the Chargers factor into that. Chiefs fans don't want to admit it but Jim Harbaugh is a good coach and he's already shown that by how quickly he turned the Chargers around.
Worthy taking the next step and not having a sophomore slump is key to the Chiefs continuing to dominate this rivalry and hopefully sweeping the Chargers once again. It'd also show the rest of the league that the Chiefs offense is back to being a dangerous threat.