has proved frustrating for the players who have lived through some if not all of it.

“We’ve got to be ready,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “As a defense, we want to be on the field, do you know what I mean? We want that challenge. I felt like we didn’t make the plays in the third and fourth quarters to get off the field. I know looking at the tape we’re going to be sick to our stomachs.”

Said outside linebacker Khalil Mack: “It’s a situation you dream of, to get that stop, a turnover, and win the game. It was just a lot of breakdowns. I’ve got to finish that play on that scramble (Mahomes’ pass to Kelce). I’ve got to get down and get the ball off him. There’s no excuses. It’s a high level of frustration, but you’ve got to use it.”

The Chargers end the regular season with games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6) and Denver Broncos (8-5) at SoFi Stadium and against the New England Patriots (3-10) and Las Vegas Raiders (2-11) on the road. So, their schedule eases someone in the home stretch.

If there was a lesson to be taken from Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, and there definitely was, it was that the margin for victory against elite teams such as Kansas City is razor thin. The Chargers paid a steep price for a sluggish offensive start and their late defensive lapses.

“I think it just comes down to executing the plays we were put out there to do,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “Technique, tackling, I think that’s what it comes down to. Just finishing the game. We played a long game. We have to finish a long game. We’ve got to realize everybody’s in the NFL for a reason. We’re going against a good quarterback, a good team. It comes down to who’s making those plays in a critical moment. We’ve just got to finish. He’s a good quarterback. He’s getting paid what he’s paid for a reason.”

After a halting start, the Chargers finally got rolling.

The Chargers rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit to take a 14-13 lead on Gus Edwards’ 3-yard touchdown run and Justin Herbert’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston on their first two possessions of the third quarter. It was the first time the Chargers were shut out in the first half this season.

Kansas City retook the lead 16-14 on Wright’s 50-yard field goal with 13:04 remaining in the game. The Chargers seized it back on Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard field goal with 4:35 left, capping a 14-play, 57-yard drive that took 8:29. It was the Chargers’ third score on three second-half possessions.

The Chargers accomplished nothing of value in the first half, trailing the Chiefs 13-0 by halftime. They couldn’t establish a productive running game and their passing game was out of sync from the start with top receiver Ladd McConkey sidelined by nagging knee and shoulder injuries.