AFC Game Of The Week
Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Chargers: They deserved to lose that game on Sunday to the Cowboys. What have I always said in years past? The most disciplined football team is normally the one that comes out on top with the victory. There was a total of 20 penalties committed in that week two showdown. 12 of those were against the Chargers. You can’t be successful if you continuously shoot yourself in the foot consistently and that’s exactly what took place. So far, the young quarterback movement has been in heavy discussion in the NFL. I can’t say enough about Justin Herbert. I enjoyed his game during his college days at Oregon and he’s made a smooth transition into the NFL. For such a young quarterback, he’s always so calm yet poised. I’m still high on these Chargers. With the weapons they have offensively with Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, and Jared Cook, they have perimeter pieces that can make it difficult for any secondary to defend. This is a playoff team potentially if they can stay healthy but most importantly, consistent. They will look to rebound on Sunday in their first divisional tilt of the season when they travel to Arrowhead.
Chiefs: So, I’m about to be very realistic here. They should be 0-2. They didn’t look all that great against Cleveland in week one and on Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens, they settled too soon, and it hurt them in the end. There were a few good things I saw in their last game. The first was a healthy Tyrann Mathieu. He’s the best safety in the league when healthy and he was able to intercept Lamar Jackson twice with one of them being a pick-six. The other was seeing their offense spread the ball around to the other receivers because the Ravens did such a great job of taking Tyreek Hill away. Remember I called that out last week? One other thing I need to see the Chiefs do is develop a more consistent ground attack. I can’t stress this enough because I understand it’s a pass happy, quarterback driven league, but still. They’d be even scarier as an offense if the running game matched the passing attack. Despite the struggles of their defense, why are they still so good? They have the offense to make up for their shortcomings on the other side of the field. As expected, the quarterback is playing out of his mind. Through the first two games, Patrick has thrown six touchdown passes to only one interception so far. This Sunday, they return home looking to bounce back after a tough loss.
Chargers X-Factor: Jared Cook– When he’s used the right way, he’s such a threat for any offense. Jared is that vertical threat that can run the seam routes. He’s a mismatch problem. At 6’5, he’s the one player as a quarterback that you just lob the football up to in the air and hope he comes down with it. The Chiefs over the years have statistically been one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to defending tight ends.
Chiefs X-Factor: Clyde Edwards-Helaire– I know his fumble was costly on Sunday night. In this game, you must be able to turn the page and move forward. On Sunday against the Cowboys, the Chargers were gashed by the Dallas running attack. They allowed 198 yards rushing along with two touchdowns. If I’m Clyde, I’d be all in the offensive meetings telling them to feed me the football as early and often as possible. Never be afraid to take a page out of another teams’ playbook.
Final Thoughts: This is a big game for both teams. The Chargers lost on Sunday by three and the Chiefs lost a shocking game by a point. Isn’t it crazy to think both these teams are looking up to the Raiders and Broncos in the division at this moment? The Chiefs are still the class of this division and this conference. To get anywhere in the AFC, you must travel through Arrowhead as I said a few weeks ago. I see the Chiefs coming out aggressively early on. Lots of shots down the field and trying to get Tyreek his looks because he was so limited in week two. I don’t need to see Kansas City play lights out defense. They just need to get off the field on third down. The Chargers have the weapons to turn this into a shootout, but matching Mahomes score for score is the worst thing you can do. I’d slow the game down. Establish Ekeler and get your throws down the field when the opportunity presents itself. You have to love a divisional game.
Prediction: Chiefs 28 Chargers 24
