The Kansas City Chiefs are back in primetime yet again as they travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers on “Sunday Night Football.”
This is a big game for both teams, but for the Chargers in particular. They are fighting for their season after losing to the San Francisco 49ers last week and falling to 5-4. L.A. is on the outside looking in of the playoff picture and would face an almost insurmountable task of winning the AFC West with a loss to K.C. Sunday night.
The Chiefs are rolling, winners of their last three games and five of their last six. After many predicted them to take a step back this season, the Chiefs once again find themselves on top of the AFC. They’ll now have to get into a road warrior mentality as four of their next five games are away.
Check out our gameplan preview from when these two teams met back in Week 2, which the Chiefs won 27-24. There you’ll find more specifics about the Chargers’ offensive and defensive schematics. Now, let’s dive into their Week 11 matchup.
Chiefs' defense vs. Chargers' offense
In Week 2 the Chargers jumped on K.C. with a quick 10-0 score and a 17-7 lead early in the second half. They attacked with the vertical passing game, picking up large chunks of yards through the air. The Chiefs’ defense then responded in a big way with five straight stops, including a pick-six from cornerback Jaylen Watson.
L.A. scored a touchdown on its last possession, but the game was already out of reach. The defensive turnaround for the Chiefs was due to their ability to get pressure on quarterback Justin Herbert, sacking him twice and recording eight QB hits. The K.C. front seven was effective against the run as well, holding the Chargers to just three yards per carry.
Expect more of the same from both teams in this week’s matchup. The Chargers want to stretch the field, but they’ve been without Keenan Allen for most of the season and Mike Williams for the last three weeks. The good news for L.A. is both players are on track to return for this game.
Williams has especially been a problem for the Chiefs’ defense. Back in Week 2 he caught 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs and racked up 171 yards and two touchdowns against them last season. The Chargers will almost certainly challenge the Chiefs’ No. 25-ranked pass defense often.
The K.C. defense certainly can’t get too caught up worrying about the deep ball and forget about running back Austin Ekeler in the short passing game. Ekeler leads all running backs in receptions with 67 and receiving touchdowns with four. The Chiefs will need to know his whereabouts at all times and rally to the Pro Bowl RB with sound tackling.
As it was in Week 2, getting consistent pressure on Herbert will be crucial to the success of the Chiefs’ defense. K.C. has recorded 13 sacks in its last three games and will be getting a little extra reinforcement with Frank Clark returning from suspension. Herbert is the least-sacked quarterback in the league among all QBs who have started every game this season.
Chiefs' offense vs. Chargers' defense
The Chiefs’ offense was still trying to find its way during the first matchup with the Chargers. Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire had his best game of the season against L.A. with 118 total yards, but he has been phased out of the offense quite a bit over the past few weeks.
The Chiefs ran the ball well against the Chargers in that game, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. That is something that could carry over into this week’s matchup as the Chargers have the 30th-ranked rushing defense in the league. With how well quarterback Patrick Mahomes is playing it’s possible that the Chiefs’ running backs face some light boxes as well.
To make matters tougher for the Chargers’ defense, it is without Pro Bowl defensive end Joey Bosa and lost defensive linemen Otitio Ogbonnia and Christian Covington for the season.
If there were ever a time for the Chiefs to make a big commitment to the running game, it’s in this game. Running back Isiah Pacheco had somewhat of a breakout performance last week and this could be a good chance for him to really gain some momentum.
If the Chiefs are indeed successful running the ball in this game, the vertical passing game off play-action could be deadly. Mahomes is spreading the ball around to his receivers as well as we’ve seen any QB do in recent memory. Look for new receiver Kadarius Toney to continue to get more involved within the offense, especially if JuJu Smith-Schuster isn’t able to suit up.
