Chiefs: Heading for a Showdown

Laddie Morse

With the Bengals coming up this weekend and the Falcons next weekend, the Chief and Chargers could be headed for an AFC West Showdown three weeks from now. I know we’re not supposed to look ahead but this is too juicy. The Chargers beat the Raiders 22-to-10 while running the ball more than they passed it.: 171 to 140. J.K. Dobbins ran for 134 yards. Dobbins had a visit with the Chiefs in early April of this year and while he had achilles surgery last year he was a second round pick of the Ravens in 2022 and had 805 yards rushing in his rookie season averaging 6.0 yards per carry (YPC). That’s an excellent YPC average.

I know it may not feel right reading an article on a game that’s still three weeks away or that isn’t the game coming up this weekend… but it’s important enough for the division crown to address now. Yes, the game with the Cincinnati Bengals is an important one tomorrow, but the looming game with the Chargers needs to be addressed too.

The Chargers beat the Raiders in their first contest making them 1-and-0 just like the Chiefs. We know that the Chargers new Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is a run-first kind of guy, so it’s not surprising that his team rushed for 171 yards against the Raiders. The question is… will that same approach work against the Chiefs? The Chiefs held the Ravens to 63 yards if you don’t count the 122 yards gained by Lamar Jackson on the ground. Chargers QB Justin Herbert gained 6 yards in the game against the Raiders. So, even if he breaks out against the Chiefs for his highest total based on his average in his best year of rushing the ball, in 2023, he averaged under 18 yards per game.

In term of passing, Justin Herbert averaged 241 yards per game in 2023 so it appears that his passing game is better than his rushing game. However, with Jim Harbaugh in the house and running the show (literally), we’ll have to keep an eye out to see if Herbert is allowed to pass the ball more or give into Harbaugh’s run-first approach.

The Chiefs new offense features the speedy Xavier Worthy and an improved Rashee Rice in his second year and now the Chiefs #1WR. The Chief have also added RB Samaje Perine who played previously for the Bengals and the Broncos, two of the Chiefs main rivals. What many fans may not know is that Perine was drafted by the Washington Commanders (a 4th rounder in 2017) and also played for the Dolphins. Although Perine missed a catch from Patrick Mahomes vs the Ravens, it looked like he had some free sailing to the end zone had been able to corral the ball.

Although J.K. Dobbins had 135 rushing yards in his first game, the Chief were able to hold Derrick Henry to 46 yards in their first contest. So, we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out but for now, it looks like K.C.’s front 7 will be able to hold Dobbins to a minimum number of rushing yards.

Chiefs-Chargers History

The Chargers haven’t won the AFC West Division since 2009. The graph below shows the Chargers v Chiefs since the beginning of the 2014 season. The Chiefs have won the AFC West crown every year since 2016.

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The Chargers Record vs the Chiefs

From 2024 to 2014

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Adapted from FootballDatabase.com

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As you can see above, the Chargers haven’t beaten the Chiefs since 2021 and before that it was 2018. I’m only going back as far as the 2014 season because the Chargers beat the Chiefs three straight times prior to that. The Chiefs are 17-and-3 over the last 20 times they have faced off.

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Note: this chart goes far enough back in time to when the Chargers were from San Diego. That also happens to be the place they were from, as I was growing up.

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Chiefs v Bengals

While we ponder the possibilities of a another season of the Chiefs beating up on the Chargers, let’s take a moment to think about the game at hand: with the Chiefs Hosting the Bengals (2:07):

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One more thing to consider. Will this game — when the Chiefs win — make everything even with Joe Burrow? Mind you, Joe Burrow and the Bengals are 2-and-0 in the regular season and 1-and-1 in the playoffs against Patrick Mahomes’s Chiefs.

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Martín O’Donnell at bolavip.com has this to say about the matchup:

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“Cincinnati’s shocking loss against a team that is

rebuilding after Bill Belichick’s departure has

cast doubt on its title aspirations, but Mahomes 

isn’t taking anything for granted. At the end of the

day, the Chiefs star knows how dangerous Burrow 

and company could be.”

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What do you think?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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