Monday night will be the biggest divisional game for the Chiefs in a long time.
This season has been bumpier than expected for Kansas City, but there is still plenty to be optimistic about. The Chiefs will play in Mexico City with all five starting offensive linemen for the first time since Week 2, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is healthy again. The Chiefs defense, though still with issues, is an improved unit from 2018.
The 4-6 Los Angeles Chargers are fighting for their playoff lives. They have talent across the board, but injuries have ravaged their season like so many times before. Quarterback Philip Rivers also appears to be on his last legs and it is becoming more difficult for him to shoulder the load.
Here are the keys to a Chiefs victory before they head into their bye week:
Improve red zone efficiency
The Chiefs’ offense is still an elite unit (No. 3 in the NFL), but the one area it is struggling in is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Last season, the Chiefs scored red zone TDs 73 percent of the time, second-best in the NFL. This season they rank 26th, scoring TDs on just 47 percent of their trips to the red zone.
The Chiefs are settling for too many field goals, which is keeping their opponents in the game. With six games still to go, kicker Harrison Butker has already matched his number of field goal attempts from last season.
With Mahomes at QB and one of the best skill position groups in the NFL, there’s no reason for K.C. to be struggling to score TDs. The offensive line returning to full health might help.
Play smarter on special teams
The Kansas City special teams unit has been very disappointing this season. It has committed way too many penalties and the returners are not making wise decisions on whether or not to return a kick, costing the Chiefs valuable field position.
Last week against the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs used the same cadence on all field goal attempts throughout the game. This allowed Titans cornerback Joshua Kalu to time his jump perfectly and block the game-tying field goal attempt.
These aren’t the type of mistakes you would expect out of a unit led by a coordinator as experienced as Dave Toub. He owned up to their struggles this past week, so hopefully we’ll see a renewed focus on details.
More consistency from WR Sammy Watkins
Watkins exploded in Week 1 with nine receptions for 198 yards and three touchdowns but hasn’t come close to 100 yards in a game since. He’s made a few nice catches sporadically but has largely been ineffective. He let a couple of catchable balls go through his hands last week that could have made a difference in the game.
The Chiefs don’t need Watkins to be explosive like Tyreek Hill, but he has to be dependable. He is bound to have some matchups Monday night with Casey Hayward, who is a very good cornerback. Watkins will need to be sharp and focused to have success against Hayward, and if Hayward shadows Hill, Mahomes could be looking Watkins’ way quite a bit.
Properly utilize defensive personnel
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo made some controversial decisions with his personnel last week. Defensive lineman Mike Pennel was inactive despite playing very well against the run the last previous two weeks. Linebacker Reggie Ragland, another good run defender, played on just 17 snaps.
The Titans would go on to rush for 225 yards and beat the Chiefs. Spagnuolo seemed to abandon what had been working for his defense the previous three weeks. This week he’ll be facing a dynamic running back duo of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler. We’ll see if Spagnuolo goes back to his old recipe or continues to try new things.
Play with a sense of urgency
The Chiefs entered this season with the expectation that anything less than getting to the Super Bowl would be a failure. They are as talented as any other NFL team, have an MVP quarterback and one of the most successful head coaches of the last 20 years.
They are certainly capable of finishing the season strong and making a Super Bowl run, but the margin of error has become very small. Kansas City must turn up the urgency and not have more letdown losses to inferior teams. The Oakland Raiders have tied the Chiefs for first place in the AFC West. If the Chiefs lose to the Chargers they will fall out of the top six seeds.
