The Chargers are back on the road in Week 6.

The Chargers and Chiefs play Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. (PT).

The Chargers-Chiefs betting line shows the Bolts are Week 6 underdogs.

Here are five final thoughts ahead of Week 6.

1. Get one before the bye

Let's put this as plainly as we can.

The Chargers have one game left before their bye week but are somehow still looking for their first win of the season.

How much do the 0-5 Bolts need a win so they don't go winless in September and October?

"Badly," said Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, who expanded on the urgency around his team.

"High level of that. High level of wanting, needing. Doing anything and everything we can to get that win. The first one, [it] hasn't come yet," Harbaugh added. "I use the olive jar analogy that sometimes those olives are packed so tight in there … you work to get one out and once you get one out, there's another."

Harbaugh said he has spent "most waking minutes of the day" trying to figure out how the Bolts can leave Arrowhead Stadium with a win Sunday afternoon in Kansas City.

"I see the same with our coaches and our players," Harbaugh said.

But that won't be an easy task against a Chiefs team that is 4-0 and coming off their own bye week.

The Chargers are up for the challenge … of both going against their undefeated division rivals and looking to secure their first win of the 2026 season.

"We're doing everything we can to correct it and make it better," Justin Herbert said of the Chargers 0-5 start.

Khalil Mack added: "It's another opportunity to get a win. That's all I'm focused on."

Elijah Molden also commented on what a win would do for the overall morale of the Chargers heading into the bye week.

"It'd be massive," Molden said. "I don't want to say were desperate because I don't really like that word and associate it with people getting out of character.

"It's more just a heightened sense of urgency to do your job and do it well," Molden added. "We're not where we want to be, but what can we do now other than go out there and make it right by whatever means necessary?"

2. Reinforcements at WR

The Chargers wide receiver unit was a patchwork group by the end of Week 5.

With Quentin Johnston and Brenen Thompson inactive and Ladd McConkey dressed only as an emergency option, the Chargers then lost Tre' Harris due to a hamstring injury.

That left Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Theo Wease and Derius Davis as the only healthy receivers on the field as the Chargers attempted a last-minute comeback against Denver.

"You have to try to keep the game the same. You can't let it affect you too much," Herbert said. "A guy like Theo did such a great job stepping in allowing me to play with timing and knowing where he's going to be at.

"Marquez made some big plays, too. To have guys like that who are able to step up and fill in for the guys that go down, it's huge for our team," Herbert added.

Chargers Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel said: "We've definitely adjusted several things to make sure that, regardless of who goes down, that we're able to give the healthy receivers opportunities."

Valdes-Scantling led the group with two catches for 22 yards.

"We're all professionals. You never want to lose guys, especially the top three guys have all gone down since I've been here at different parts of the year," Valdes-Scantling said. "Being able to have guys come in and help out where they can like myself, seeing guys like Theo get an opportunity last week and make the best of it whether it be a third-down catch or a block down the field.

"Being able to be prepared and doing as much as we can to get guys ready to play by Sunday," Valdes-Scantling added.

As Week 6 approaches, it appears reinforcements are coming for the Chargers.

McConkey and Johnston are good to go for Sunday while Thompson is questionable to play.

"It's awesome to see those guys out there. They've made so many plays for us and we expect them to make so many more plays for us, too," Herbert said. "I know they're doing everything they can to be out there for this team."

The Chargers might also benefit from the return of KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who has been on Injured Reserve after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 1.

"I feel great. I'm ready to hit the field with guys," said Lambert-Smith, who had his 21-day practice window opened this week and is questionable to play.

"I think I'm right where I need to be. I've been putting in good work over the last four weeks leading up to this week. I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot and looking forward to Sunday," Lambert-Smith added.

If you recall, it was Lambert-Smith who caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Herbert late in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium last December to help rally the Bolts to a win.

"Brings juice. Speed," Harbaugh said of Lambert-Smith. "He was doing extremely well before he went out. Seems to be back and ready to roll."

3. Eliminate the short fields

The Chargers defense allowed just 23 points against the Broncos in Week 5, but that figure is a bit misleading.

While Denver did put together a 60-yard field goal drive, the rest of Denver's scoring drives all began in Chargers territory. A pair of touchdown drives went just 40 and 41 yards, respectively, while two field goal drives totaled just 48 yards.

All in all, the Broncos scored 20 points while racking up just 119 yards of offense, highlighting a troubling trend for the Chargers in 2026.

Through five games, opposing offenses have started 18 drives in Chargers territory, by far the most in the NFL. New Orleans is second with 11 such drives.

Chargers Defensive Coordinator Chris O'Leary doesn't want to hear any excuses from his group.

"When they get inside the high red zone or across the 50, they don't have to score. That's got to be our mindset," O'Leary said. "We're getting there, we need to get there immediately."

He later added: "We have an opportunity to go take the ball back from them, we have the opportunity to force field goals and block field goals. As a defense and as a championship defense or team that's chasing that, you're only focused on what we can control. For us, you don't ever control when you walk onto the field, but you control how you walk on the field and what you do when you're out there. That's our focus."

Herbert pointed the finger at himself for putting his teammates in peril too often this season.

"We've got to do a better job of not turning the ball over and not putting them in those positions," said Herbert, who has nine turnover this season, including tying for the league-high with seven interceptions.

"Got to hold onto the ball and not give it to the defense … know when to go down, when to throw it away. That's just part of the job," Herbert added.

The Chargers have been close in most of their games this season as they have either been leading or trailing by a field goal entering the fourth quarter.

But too many miscues from the offense — especially before the cross midfield — has directly led to the 0-5 start.

"Find a way to win. We've been so close, it's not like we're going into games getting blown out," Valdes-Scantling said. "We may have a costly turnover here, costly drop or a mistake here.

"It's been four or five plays that go the wrong way … just finding ways to cut those mistakes so we can have a real chance at the end of the game to win them," Valdes-Scantling added.

4. Trying to slow down Walker

The last time O'Leary went to Arrowhead Stadium, he was the Chargers safeties coach in 2024.

O'Leary was asked this week about what has changed about the Chiefs offense since then.

"Kenneth Walker is new from the last time I was here and we played them," O'Leary said.

Entering Week 6, Walker has been the league's best running back so far and is also a player who might deserve to be in the early MVP conversation.

Walker's 537 rushing yards (in just four games) rank second in the NFL. He leads the league with 6.2 yards per carry and 134.3 yards per game.

While the Chiefs struggled to run the ball in recent years, Walker has flipped that script on its head.

"He's a dynamic player who can do it all," Molden said. "And he's a running back that you actually have to game plan for. There's good backs in the league but he's one that stands out.

"In the past a lot of their stuff was RPOs as opposed to running the ball. Those quick throws at the line of scrimmage were like runs," Molden added. "But now they feature the run game more because of him."

O'Leary added: "You have to really stop the run and stop the pass and play them honest. It's an all-encompassing game plan, attack. You got to do it all versus this offense now."

Walker is coming off a career-high 177 rushing yards and has been a menace to bring down, as he has a league-high 39 missed tackles forced and is averaging four-plus yards after contact.

"Between him and 15, that's a special duo in that backfield," Mack said.

5. Mahomes still elite

Oh yes, 15.

Don't forget that the Chiefs still have Patrick Mahomes.

"Stopping [Walker] is important, then guess what, Patrick Mahomes is back there," O'Leary deadpanned this week.

Mahomes was lost for the rest of the 2025 season the last time the Chargers were in Kansas City as he suffered a torn ACL.

Mahomes rehabbed quick enough to be ready for Week 1 and led the Chiefs to a perfect start thus far.

"Same elite player," Molden said. "I love playing against him, especially in Arrowhead."

The Chargers are well-aware of the checklist that is needed to beat Mahomes, with containing him in the pocket at the top of that list.

"He's a great player. It's a tall task because you really have to be on your assignments and then once the play extends, you really plaster the receivers and work hard to get him down or get him to throw the ball," Harbaugh said.

Mack added said the biggest key is to "make sure we get hits on him."

"The hardest thing is containing him and keeping him away from the big plays. He always finds a way," Mack said.

Entering Week 6, Mahomes ranks fifth in passer rating (106.2) and is one of three quarterbacks to at least two touchdown passes in each game so far this season.

Overall, Mahomes has thrown for 1,037 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

"The ability to stay in coverage, the ability to strain in the rush and go get him, all of that is what matters in those [big] moments," O'Leary said. "It's our guys making a play versus their guys. We have to be ready for that."