Two leaders of the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense were seen shouting at each other in the final moments of their season-opening defeat to the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.
The Chiefs were unable to continue their success in one-score games as they fell to the Chargers 27-21 at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.
As the game was coming to an end, cameras on the broadcast saw a tense confrontation between pass rusher Chris Jones and linebacker Drue Tranquill.
Jones had his helmet on, making his words unclear. However, Tranquill’s helmet was off and he was seen shouting back at Jones.
While teammate Nick Bolton stood between the two to separate them, Tranquill appeared to yell, ‘I’m trying to win bro, and we lose every contain.’
Here’s that Jones and Tranquil moment. Think I can lip read Tranquil saying “I’m trying to win bro, and we lose ___” pic.twitter.com/CpIius2sKm
— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) September 6, 2025
Following the game, Jones said that he had ‘no comment’ on the heated exchange between himself and Tranquill.
Chris Jones (95) and Drue Tranquill (helmet off) were seen yelling at each other in-game
The Chiefs left Brazil in defeat, with Travis Kelce and KC falling 27-21 in their opener
Speaking to The Athletic’s Jesse Newell, Tranquill reflected on the moment saying, ‘Emotions are just high. We’re all competitive. We all want to win. And so we were just discussing what happened on the play, and emotions were just high.’
He continued: ‘Chris is a great player. I’m not sure what happened. I haven’t seen the tape over there. But we’re teammates, man. We’re brothers. It’s just an emotional moment. We’ve had it before in the past. That’s my guy. We’ll be all right. We’ll get better from it.’
Despite the Chiefs bringing plenty of pressure onto Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Kansas City only came up with three sacks on the night.
Herbert seemed to finish the night mistake-free – completing 25-of-34 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. He also finished with 32 yards on the ground for himself.
Meanwhile, his counterpart – Patrick Mahomes – was less of a threat through the air. Mahomes went 24-for-39 with 258 yards passing and a touchdown. He was better on the ground with six carries for 57 yards and a rushing TD of his own.
But the Chiefs defense couldn’t slow Herbert down, despite the three sacks (two of which came from Tranquill).
The Chargers had 22 first downs – of which, 16 came through the air.
Herbert and LA also managed to go 7-of-13 on third-down conversions – miles better than the 5-of-14 rate the Chiefs had.
The Chargers take their 1-0 start on the road next week when they take on the Las Vegas Raiders. As for the Chiefs, they’ll face a much tougher task against the Philadelphia Eagles in a re-match of Super Bowl LIX.
