Laddie Morse
This game between the Chargers and the Chiefs is important for both teams. For the 2-and-3 Los Angeles Chargers, it may mean their season is over if they lose. For the 5-and-1 Kansas City Chiefs, it may mean they can wrap up another AFC West title. Not mathematically of course… but psychologically? Oh my yes.
Let’s get something clear right now: we don’t know YET if Taylor Swift will be in attendance for Sunday’s game. Some will say… who cares! I’ll tell you why it’s important… the Chiefs are 3-and-0 when Taylor Swift attends their games… and that’s why it’s so important. What is closer to reality is… both DL Charles Omenihu and WR Mecole Hardman will be active for this game.
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Omenihu should give the Defense — which is already playing lights out this year — a big boost, and Hardman should help give the offense a long distance advantage… or at least make it much harder on the Chargers’ Safeties.
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Chargers Offense
ESPN has the Chargers offense ranked at #8 while PFF has them ranked at #7. Here’s what PFF has to say about the Bolts offense:
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“The days of seeing Justin Herbert continuously throwing passes inside of five air yards are over. Kellen Moore has brought a more explosive element to the offense; Herbert has been more aggressive over the middle of the field and downfield to truly maximize the offense.”
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While PFF has the Chiefs offense ranked higher, the Chargers offense is coming into it’s own. Kellen Moore — L.A.’s new OC — is a big improvement over Joe Lombardi who is now the OC with the Broncos. Moore uses his experience as a former QB to call plays for L.A.. He was previously the QB for the Lions and the Cowboys and although the Chargers are 2-and-3 right now, it’s not the fault of the offense. They are 7th in the NFL in scoring with 25.4 points per game.
The problem with the Chargers is their defense.
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Chargers Defense
Before getting into a blame game for the Bolts defense, it must be said that they have the best pair of edge rushers in the league in Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. It should also be noted that Khalil Mack had 6 sacks in a game vs the Raiders. That should be important to Chiefs Kingdom because Hall of Famer, Derrick Thomas, has the NFL Record with 7 sacks in a game. Let us pray that this doesn’t happen vs the Chiefs (2:15).
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Here are Derrick Thomas’ (DT) 7 sacks against Seattle in 1990. A game the Chiefs lost. (9:00):
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FOX Sports has the Chargers ranked #31 in total defense (out of 32), allowing 391.6 yards per game. Further, FOX Sports has the Chargers ranked last in passing defense allowing 289 passing yards per game. However, the Chargers run defense ranks 14th allowing 102.6 per game.
I can see the Chiefs attempting to run the ball at will against the Charegers and if they can do that, it should open up the passing game much more. That means the Chiefs will begin the game with a “run-to-pass” approach. In the second half, if it’s still a close game, the Chiefs will go to a “pass-to-run” approach. I know that seems counter-intuitive but that’s just the feeling I have.
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Chiefs Offense
The biggest change the addition of Mecole Hardman will have on the offense is the running of more Jet Sweeps and wheel routes that will take the attention of the Chargers Safeties which should open up the middle of the field more. That should allow Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice to get free more over the middle of the field, especially if they play a lot of zone coverage.
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Jordan Foote shared what Travis Kelce said about the Chiefs offense:
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“I see us moving in the right direction. . . We’ve got good direction on where we can clean things up and where we can move forward. [Kelce] adds that he can see different players progressing and moving faster within the offense in practice.”
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ESPN has the Chiefs ranked 4th in the NFL in total yards per game with 382.3. While the Chiefs have been “experimenting” with their WR corp early in this season, I expect a more measured approach this week. Meaning, K.C. should make a concerted effort to hit a limited number of their WRs and make do with that approach. Plus, Patrick Mahomes should begin to feel as if he can hit the underneath receiver as much as he likes to go long or connect with a deep ball. It took PM some time to do that last year with JuJu Smith-Schuster and I expect he’ll reign it in this week as well.
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Chiefs Defense
The Chiefs defense has been the group that has carried the team through their first six games this year. The Offense has been spotty at best, but when they do step up, it’s usually in a big way, coming through at the right moments. The Defense however, has been consistently excellent. TeamRanking.com has the Chiefs ranked 2nd in the league with 14.7 PPG allowed (only the 49ers rank higher with a 14.5 PPG allowed).
Getting Charles Omenihu back should only help this team more. Omenihu will solidify the interior pass rush and he will be able to slip to the outside too, much like Chris Jones on the other side. In a phone conversation with David bell, he said that Omenihu had gotten approximately 60% of his snaps on the inside which leaves 40% dedicated to the outside last season while he was with the 49ers. Any time DC Steve Spagnuolo can confuse the opposing QB, he will and Charles Omenihu gives him another tool in his toolbox to ply against the offense. We should see some of that this week against the Chargers.
BTW, the Chiefs defense only allows 13.0 PPG in Home games.
Chargers QB, Justin Herbert, said this week when referring to Chris Jones,
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“One of the great things that they do is,
they can put him anywhere. Whether it’s
inside or outside, he can rush from so many
different spots. Definitely one of those guys
you have to be aware of, where ever he is on
the field.”
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Herbert also said they just need to execute better which he admitted begins with him. Sounds like he and Patrick Mahomes have gone to the same QB school. There haven’t been any Bulletin Board material flying around this week, so it will all be decided on the field.
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Special Teams
Special Teams play should be an advantage for the Chiefs if they don’t have a dropped punt. Kicker Harrison Butker hasn’t missed a Field Goal or an Extra Point this season. Punter Tommy Townsend was First Team All- Pro last year and it doesn’t look like he’s gotten any worse in 2023. lineuos.com has the Chiefs STs ranked #8 and the Chargers STs ranked 26th.
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I have the Chiefs winning this one: 34 to 20. I think the Chargers can score two TDs and two Field Goals. The Chiefs? They should be able to put a lot together this week and solidify their place amongst the NFL heavyweights… early in the game.
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What do you think?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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