Are you ready for some Chiefs football?
Like the past three seasons, the Chiefs Wire staff will offer its weekly predictions for each Chiefs game. Here are our picks for Kansas City’s Week 11 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Charles Goldman’s pick: Chiefs win 34-20
Season record: 5-5
Twitter: @goldmctNFL
As I’ve said throughout the week, I think this game will be won in the trenches.
The Kansas City Chiefs are getting healthy at the right time. This game marks the first time they’ll have their starting offensive line together since the first series of Week 2. That should provide a big boost for the offense when it comes to passing, running the ball and keeping Patrick Mahomes protected.
On the other side, the Los Angeles Chargers look to be without several starters along the offensive line. Russell Okung has a chance to play but he didn’t participate in practice all week.
Look for Kansas City to keep the Los Angeles ground game tamed with run blitzes and some of the aggressive play calls we saw in Week 8 and Week 9. Steve Spagnuolo mentioned that he got away from calling those run pressures last week and it was a mistake. Additionally, look for the Chiefs to send pressure after Philip Rivers to keep him uncomfortable throughout the game.
Wesley Roesch’s pick: Chiefs win 41-40
Season record: 8-2
Twitter: @WesleyRoesch
Let’s face it, the Chiefs would have beaten the Titans if not for silly self-destructive mistakes. What are the odds they have another game filled with those? I may have jinxed them by asking that question, but I think it’s unlikely.
With many players getting healthy and a brutal loss to think about, I think K.C. bounces back in Mexico. I do expect this to be a high-scorer. Chargers running backs will likely have a big game. I think this comes down to the wire, and this time Patrick Mahomes gets the game-winning score at the end.
Nicolas Roesch’s pick: Chiefs win 38-34
Season record: 8-2
Twitter: @Nicolas_Roesch
I think we’re in for an old-fashioned AFC West shootout on Monday night. Nobody knows what to expect from the Chiefs’ defense on any given week, but I have a hard time seeing it slowing down all the Chargers’ offensive playmakers. The saving grace for K.C. will be the banged-up Chargers’ offensive line, which could have only one starter in this game.
Offensively for the Chiefs, I expect Patrick Mahomes to be in MVP form as usual. K.C. will have its way with the Charger defense, and hopefully, clean up the penalties and turnovers that have plagued it the last couple of weeks. At the end of the night, I think the Chiefs have a few more big plays in them than L.A.
John Dillon’s pick: Chiefs win 44-10
Season record: 6-4
Twitter: @TheJohnDillon
After the international game scheduled for last year was canceled and moved due to inadequate field conditions, the Chiefs are poised to play “the other” Los Angeles team this week in Mexico City at Azteca Stadium. It’ll be a marquee Monday night matchup with potentially huge playoff implications between AFC West rivals.
Its no secret Kansas City has been slipping up over the past several weeks, and now as they enter the closing stretch of the season they’re only clinging to the playoffs by a thin margin. Andy Reid teams are notorious for mid-year slides like the team has experienced this year, but with injuries mounting it could be more of an uphill battle than one might expect, even with Patrick Mahomes back and playing better than ever.
This week I’ll take Kansas City 44-10 in a huge blowout abroad. The Chiefs should know they need to start their push now, and if I were a betting man I’d wager this would be the week they’ll start gelling and coming into their own. Primetime has a way of doing that.
Vinciane Ngomsi’s pick: Chiefs win 38-20
Season record: 7-3
Twitter: @VincianeNgomsi
Last week was a fluke, and the Chiefs certainly learned their lesson. It’s less about playing cute football and more about just finding ways to win. Having a creative force in Patrick Mahomes is great, but Kansas City doesn’t have to show off with every play. The Chargers are a beatable team, especially since they’re riddled with injuries. If Kansas City can just stick to playing football that doesn’t come with a side of the theatrics, the division is theirs.
As for the defense, they’re on notice. I don’t care how great the offense is, allowing an abhorrent amount of points like they have is embarrassing and essentially telling everyone they shouldn’t be taken seriously. For the remaining games of the regular season, the focus should be on ensuring the defense is equipped to theoretically outshine the offense.
Danilo Di Julio’s pick: Chiefs win 41-28
Season record: 6-4
Twitter: @ThunderDan88
Following a frustrating loss, the Kansas City Chiefs should be plenty fired up for their date in Mexico City with the Los Angeles Chargers. Patrick Mahomes returned from injury looking every bit like the reigning MVP. He took a few passes to knock the rust off and then lit up the Titans. Numerous dropped passes, a fumble by Damien Williams and the refs taking a TD off the board resulted in a one-score loss. I won’t go into the defensive failings because I think they leave those behind this week.
I expect the Chiefs WR corps to catch more passes, the RBs to hang onto the football, the defense to tackle better, players to know their assignments such as when to be on the field. Of course, Patrick will be Patrick. The Chiefs get a momentous win and the pundits prognosticating their demise will change directions again and view the Kansas City Chiefs as a top team in the NFL.
Talon Graff’s pick: Chiefs win 34-21
Season record: 6-4
Twitter: @CoachGraff34
This is a really important AFC West matchup that has implications on not only the playoff race but the race for the AFC West title. If the Chargers can defeat the Chiefs, then they will be a meer one game back for first place in the West. With the Raiders playing the winless Bengals on Sunday, they could leap ahead of the Chiefs in the division.
The Chargers and Chiefs have a lot in common it seems. Both are 2-4 in the last six weeks, both are struggling to put a healthy offensive line together, and both lost to the Tennessee Titans on last-second plays. With their matchup taking place in Mexico City on Monday Night Football, there will be plenty of eyes on this game. The last time these two teams faced off, the Chargers stole a one-point win inside Arrowhead on a two-point conversion. Even though that game was nearly a year ago, the Chiefs have not forgotten. While the Chargers might stay relatively close thanks to their defense, Mahomes and the offense will break it open toward the end. Chiefs win and keep the AFC West lead.
Kevin Scott’s pick: Chiefs win 31-30
Season record: 8-2
Twitter: @KevinScottFF
Despite the Chargers’ defense ranking 21 against the pass and 26 against the run per Football Outsiders, they have been pretty effective at preventing teams from scoring points. They held the Texans to 27 points and the Packers to 11 points, and those are the two best offenses they have faced. In addition, their defensive front seems to be improving recently, with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram playing more effectively in the last few games.
This could present big problems for the Chiefs, who have been losing starting offensive linemen left and right. They could really use the return in Week 11 of Eric Fisher and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who would give a huge boost to the front line. Cameron Erving has been exceedingly poor filling in at left tackle; it was when he totally whiffed in protection that Mahomes got hit hard and was knocked into Mitchell Schwartz, injuring him. Even if Fisher and LDT return, they will have their hands full against this strong line.
The Chiefs defense continues to disappoint, letting teams run all over them. Look for Melvin Gordon to have a big game as the Chargers look to copy the blueprint that has worked four times against the Chiefs now: run the ball right at them, over and over.
The Chiefs can win this game if the defensive line and linebackers come to play and give the effort needed to stop the run if the Chiefs’ offense can avoid the constant penalties that wiped out big plays in Week 10. In other words, they must play passionate but intelligent football. If they do, they should win. If they do not, they will lose.
I will bet on the Chiefs feeling the heat to get a win in this game, but I am torn and this game could go either way.
Ed Easton’s pick: Chiefs win 35-21
Season record: 8-2
Twitter: @EdEastonJr
This week’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers will see the Chiefs in a must-win scenario in regards to possible playoff hopes. The Mexico City crowd will be ready for a show from a healthy Patrick Mahomes taking full advantage of the thin air.
The Chiefs offense will be effective this week with help from a motivated defense. The run defense will return with a vengeance stalling the many halfbacks in the game. Phillip Rivers will force more check-downs due to the severe pass rush all night. A much-needed victory for the Chiefs as they head into the bye week.
Mitch Carney’s pick: Chiefs win 34-24
Season record: 7-3
Twitter: @MitchMitchcar11
This is a must-win for the Chiefs if they want to not only be in a good position for the playoffs but win their division. The Raiders are trailing Kansas City by a half-game and if the Chiefs suffer their fifth loss of the season it hurts their chances of winning the division. Luckily, Andy Reid has owned the AFC West, and especially the Chargers, since becoming the head coach of Kansas City. I believe he will be able to get the job done along with Patrick Mahomes having another full week back plus a couple of returning offensive lineman.
I really don’t know what to expect on the defensive side of the ball as they have been up and down all season. I expect the Chargers to run the ball often since the Titans were successful last week putting up nearly 225 yards on the ground. I think the Chiefs will tighten things up and hold the Chargers to only 24 points. They are tired of being called soft and in a divisional game during primetime, I believe they will have their best game yet.
Max Ramsey’s pick: Chiefs win 31-21
Season record: 6-3
Twitter: @The_Wild_Chief
The Chiefs are coming off an ugly loss against the Titans last week in which they allowed a come from behind victory for Tennessee. While there were lots of costly mistakes made in that game, the Chiefs managed to outplay the Titans in the box score including dominating the time of possession. Heading to Mexico City to play the Chargers this week should give the team a familiar opponent that they have had no problems beating in the past. If they can limit their mistakes and not overthink things it should allow them to right the ship and get back on track.
The Chargers have not had a great season thus far and are likely looking at this game as their chance to reignite their playoff aspirations with a win. Kansas City knows this and knows that they have allowed the division race for the underwhelming AFC West to get too close and needs to get a win here to stay above the rest. I think the Chiefs get back to the defensive game plans we saw against the Packers and Vikings and starts to look like a contender again.
