While the Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the AFC West division recently, their competition is much stronger in 2022. The Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos provide their own challenges, but many identified the Los Angeles Chargers as the biggest threat to the Chiefs' crown, and Thursday night's showdown in Arrowhead Stadium proved why.

The Chargers looked completely in control through much of the game, building a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter. After that though, the Chiefs showed why no one should ever count them out, putting up 20 unanswered points. LA tried to mount a late comeback, but it wasn't enough and Kansas City won 27-24 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

It may not have been the prettiest win, but the Chiefs will take a divisional win any day of the week. With that in mind, let's look at a few players who stepped up for Kansas City on Thursday night.

3. Willie Gay

The offense steals most of the headlines in Kansas City, and with elite talents such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it's hard to argue against that. However, the defense is arguably just as important to the Chiefs' success. With stalwarts such as Tyrann Mathieu and Charvarius Ward gone, Kansas City needs new faces to step up this season.

Willie Gay, a 2020 second-round pick from Mississippi State, established himself as one of those new faces on Thursday. The linebacker was all over the field leading the team with a career-high 11 total tackles. Two of those tackles were for a loss, and he also added two passes defended.

Kansas City's defense struggled through much of 2021, finishing 27th in total defense. The defense looks much improved this season, and should only get better with Willie Gay patrolling the middle of the field.

2. Patrick Mahomes

To the surprise of no one, Patrick Mahomes was brilliant once again on Thursday night. He may not have hit the same highs as his five-touchdown performance in the season opener against Arizona, but he did more than enough to win.

The former MVP completed 24 of 35 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Those numbers may seem pedestrian by Mahomes standards, but his 106.2 passer rating proves how effective he was. Those two touchdowns were both brilliant, including a signature side-arm to Jerick McKinnon and a long dime to Justin Watson.

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The Chiefs are fortunate to have a generational talent in his prime under center. As long as Patrick Mahomes is there, Kansas City will always be a contender, and a 2-0 start proves this year is no different.

1. Jaylen Watson

Sure, Mahomes put up another great performance against LA on Thursday. In most cases, that would be enough to land him in the top spot on a list like this. However, one defensive player nearly single-handedly turned the game around.

Early in the fourth quarter, Justin Herbert connected with Gerald Everett to set the Chargers up inside the Chiefs' five-yard line. LA looked poised to score the go-ahead touchdown, and Herbert targeted Everett again just shy of the goal line. Then, Jaylen Watson, a seventh-round rookie, jumped the route and returned the interception 99 yards to give the Chiefs the lead instead.

His pick-six turned the entire game on its head, as Kansas City's win percentage jumped from 31 percent to 85 percent after the play. Considering he was working at Wendy's just a few short years ago, a pick-six in primetime also makes for an outstanding story.

The Chiefs had their backs against the wall prior to Jaylen Watson's pick six. After that play, they were firmly in control for the rest of the game. It's not unreasonable to say that the Chiefs would have lost if not for the seventh-round rookie.