The Kansas City Chiefs travel to Mexico City to take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night in Week 11.
The Chiefs are coming off a disappointing road loss to the Tennessee Titans. Weeks ago, winning the AFC West seemed like a foregone conclusion for Kansas City, with the main focus being on getting a first-round bye for the playoffs. Now, the Chiefs have just a half-game lead over the Oakland Raiders and a two-game lead over the Chargers.
The Chargers are dealing with plenty of adversity of their own. They definitely did not envision themselves being 4-6 at this point in the season. Things seemed to be heading in the right direction for L.A. two weeks ago after they beat the Green Bay Packers, but last week they suffered a crucial loss to the Raiders.
There will be a lot on the line for both teams in this matchup. Let’s take a deeper look at the Chargers and see what it will take for a bounce-back Chiefs victory.
CHIEFS-CHARGERS HISTORY
The Chiefs lead the all-time series over the Chargers with a 61-56-1 record. After dropping nine straight games to the Chiefs, the Chargers finally got off the schneid in Week 15 of last season, winning a thrilling game at Arrowhead by a 29-28 final.
via the NFL’s official YouTube channel
As with a lot of Chiefs losses of late, they jumped out to a double-digit lead in this game but couldn’t hold on. The Chargers scored a touchdown to bring the score within one point with four seconds left in the game. They decided to go for a two-point conversion to take the lead and were successful, securing the win.
CHARGERS’ KEY ADDITIONS
LB Thomas Davis
QB Tyrod Taylor
DL Jerry Tillery
CHARGERS’ KEY SUBTRACTIONS
WR Tyrell Williams
CB Jason Verrett
DL Darius Philon
DL Corey Liuget
CHARGERS’ COACHING/SCHEMES
Anthony Lynn is in his third season as the L.A. head coach. He is an old-school style coach who likes to run the football early and often to set up the passing game.
Offensive scheme
The Chargers fired offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt two weeks ago, promoting quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen. Lynn has shown a lot of confidence in Steichen, letting him call the plays despite Lynn being a former offensive coordinator and play-caller himself.
Steichen has stayed within Whisenhunt’s system but has put more of a focus on the running game, as Lynn prefers. It has paid off, as the Chargers have rushed for a combined 305 yards and three touchdowns in their last two games. Melvin Gordon, who missed the early part of the season because of a contract holdout, and Austin Ekeler are one of the most talented running back duos in the league.
Despite that talent, quarterback Philip Rivers leads the NFL in passing attempts and passing yards. Now in his 16th season, Rivers is doing his best to continue to carry the offense with his arm, but the results have been inconsistent this season — he’s thrown the third-most interceptions among all QBs.
Like most offenses that play the Chiefs, L.A. will likely be looking to establish the run and stick with it so long as it doesn’t fall too far behind on the scoreboard. Rivers will certainly take some shots off of play-action, but Steichen and Lynn would prefer not to have him throw the ball over 25 times.
Defensive scheme
Gus Bradley is in his third season as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator. He runs a base 4-3 defensive scheme with some elements of a 3-4 mixed in. The Chargers have the sixth-ranked total defense in the NFL.
L.A. has the 19th-ranked rushing defense, which is surprising because it has one of the most talented defensive lines in the league, featuring Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and Brandon Mebane. They can wreck a game.
The Chargers have a lot of talented defensive backs and coverage linebackers, ranking fourth in the NFL in pass defense. Bradley uses his corners to play a lot of press-man coverage. The strong safety often enters the box to help with run support while the free safety plays single-high. Bradley’s system is designed to prevent big plays and to force turnovers.
KEY PLAYERS
QB Philip Rivers
Rivers’ career has been a mixed bag. He’s thrown for the sixth-most yards and touchdowns in NFL history but has a 3-4 career postseason record and no Super Bowl appearances. He has had a big arm for the majority of his career and has made every throw imaginable. He also has a great resume, with eight Pro Bowl selections and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2013.
Most people are divided on whether Rivers has had bad luck throughout his career or whether he just can’t win big games consistently enough. Regardless, time could be running out on the soon-to-be 38-year-old. His arm isn’t what it used to be, and it is becoming more difficult for him to shoulder the load.
RB Melvin Gordon
It took Gordon a few games to get going after a four-week holdout, but he looks to be in a nice rhythm heading into this game. He has gone over 100 total scrimmage yards in each of his last two games, with three touchdowns. Gordon is an explosive runner and a threat to get to the end zone every time he touches the ball.
RB Austin Ekeler
Ekeler is perhaps the most underrated running back in the NFL. He leads the Chargers in rushing yards and receiving touchdowns, and is second on the team in receptions. Ekeler is a do-it-all player who will line up in the backfield and out wide. He is a powerful runner with deceptive speed who has a knack for making big plays in key situations.
DE Joey Bosa
Bosa has established himself as one of the top defensive ends in the NFL and is a force against both the run and the pass. He recorded double-digit sacks in each of his first two seasons and was on pace to do so again last season before a foot injury cost him nine games. He is sixth in the league in sacks this season with 8.5.
CB Casey Hayward
Hayward has been one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL over the last few seasons. He is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and has recorded 13 interceptions over his last four seasons. He is currently the seventh-rated cornerback by Pro Football Focus. Over his last three games, Hayward has two pass breakups and an interception while allowing just one reception.
KEY MATCHUPS
OL Cameron Erving vs. Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram
Outside of fumbling issues, Erving has been the main source of problems for the Chiefs’ offense. He isn’t playing well against the pass or the run. He is very athletic for a lineman but needs to play more physically and improve his hand technique.
It won’t get easier for Erving this week as he matches up against Bosa and Ingram. We’ve already highlighted Bosa, and Ingram is very good in his own right, a two-time Pro Bowl selection. The Chiefs must find a way to help Erving out by keeping a tight end next to him or keeping running back in the backfield behind him to help pass block.
QB Patrick Mahomes vs. Chargers secondary
Mahomes was phenomenal in his return from injury last week, throwing for 446 yards and three touchdowns. What’s even scarier is that he missed a few throws and could have easily gone over 500 passing yards.
As unfair as it is, with as inconsistent as his defense is, Mahomes has very little room for error against a very good Chargers pass defense. He will have to be efficient pre-snap and make smart decisions with the football.
Chiefs WRs vs. Casey Hayward
Last week Chiefs receivers not named Tyreek Hill were largely disappointing. Sammy Watkins had a couple of bad drops, and Demarcus Robinson had a crucial red-zone drop on third down.
The Chiefs need another receiver to relieve some pressure off Hill and step up. Hayward is capable of shutting down an entire side of the field.
OVERVIEW
This is the Chiefs’ biggest game of the season, and it will be on a big stage. They must regain their aggressiveness defensively, clean up special teams play and re-emphasize ball security.
If K.C. loses this game, it could find itself behind the Raiders going into a crucial matchup with them in two weeks after the bye week. A win, however, keeps the Chiefs undefeated within the AFC West and give them a leg up for the division title.
