Chiefs at Chargers in Mexico City: Week 11: OPEN THREAD – it’s not a do-or-die game… yet… but if the Kansas City Chiefs don’t come out and get a win vs the Los Angeles Chargers in Mexico City tonight, then they’ll not only be tied with the Oakland Raiders but, their playoff prospects will diminish dramatically.
You may be thinking that since the Chiefs already beat the Raiders in Oakland they still will be in the driver’s seat but, if the Chiefs lose tonight against the Chargers, the Bolts will then be only one game back at 5-and-6 while the Chiefs will move to 6-and-5… and the Raiders will have a much easier schedule the remainder of the season. If you’re one of those who hold fast to the “driver’s seat” theory, let me ask you… when… do you think this team will want to get behind the wheel and start driving for a championship? You have to be in-the-car to step on the accelerator, right? While mathematically, this may not be a do-or-die game, the rest of the Chiefs game will become exactly that, if they can’t find a way to turn on the juice against the Chargers tonight.
For the first time since training camp, Patrick Mahomes will have a full house on the offensive line in front of him. That should be significant in the outcome of this game… assuming those players can make it through the game without further injury (knocking on wood as I write this… don’t ask me how, it’s very tricky).
Having the OL cup to the brim will mean that HC Andy Reid can send in a full complement of plays from his play card. In a game of matchups, sending Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz up against Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa should produce many more stalemates than checkmates… and if that holds true it spells certain doom for the Chargers D over the course of the game. It can also mean that LeSean McCoy and Damien Williams will be able to run the ball better than we’ve seen all season. If the Chiefs are able to run the ball, it’s lights out for the Bolts.
The Chargers best bet is to possess the ball and run the ball successfully. They have to believe they can do that, although, the last two times the Chargers and the Chiefs met, Chargers RB Melvin Gordon didn’t play last December at Arrowhead in a Chargers one-point victory and in Los Angeles in September he had 64 yards in a 38 to 28 loss. If the Chargers can run the ball at will, it should open up their passing game with Philip Rivers at the helm.
Rivers is not having a bad season as he has a 65.9 percentage completion rate for the year compared to his 64.6 percentage rate for his career. However, with only 14 TDs and 10 INTs he’s becoming far more careless with the ball than he has been. Rivers passer rating is 90.6 this year. By comparison, Patrick Mahomes has thrown 18 TDs this year with only 1 INT and a 114.1 passer rating. In two fewer games no less.
While the Chiefs offense is set to ball out against the Chargers, the defense should be better than last week… by default. The pitiful, shocked and embarrassed look on DC Steve Spagnuolo’s face at the end of the game vs the Titans says it all. He admitted he didn’t prepare his defense for so much running by the Titans. It’s hard to imagine that what he was thinking? With the Chiefs being one of the worst teams in the league against the run, even if you’re up my 9 or 10 points, aren’t you going to pull out all your best running plays against a defense like that? Not preparing for the Titans to run is akin to only preparing dinner for one of your children but not the other(s). It’s so basic. It’s the kind of thing that should get you consideration for the firing squad… perhaps not mid-season but at the end of the year for sure (especially if this becomes a pattern).
Philip Rivers can still sling the ball around the yard but it’s the running game the Chiefs defense must stop here. Period. End of game, and season, if they don’t.
On Special Teams, Dave Toub has either been figured out… or this Hall of Fame Special Teams coach is not getting his players to buy in this year. It’s one or the other. Toub also admits his errors:
“It’s been a rough year for us. I feel like it’s been up-and-down. In the return game, we’ve been close, but I’ve been saying that every week it seems like. We need a breakout game in the return game. Our coverage, I love our coverage. Kickoff and punt, I think, are doing excellent.”
Toub went on to say:
“I told the guys this, too, the offense and defense did enough to win the game — we have to finish. We have to be perfect. We have to get that job done. That’s our job to get that done, and we didn’t get that done. We hold ourselves accountable; coaches, players”
Accountability is great if a change for the better comes next… but we haven’t seen that either. At some point, the coaches excuses just sound like the parent in a Charlie Brown Special: Wha-Wha-Wah-Wah-Wha…….
Weather in Mexico City, Mexico
It looks like the weather in Mexico City will be nearly ideal for a football game. That’s a little concerning since the past few times I’ve written “ideal weather for a football game” the Chiefs have lost. So, naturally, superstition sets in:
I keep expecting the Chiefs to have a breakout game. They had a nice breakout game in London vs the Lions 45-to-10 four years ago. So, I’ll stick near to that score and say the Chiefs win going away, 45-to-17.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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