Prediction: Chiefs 38, Chargers 21

Prediction: Chiefs 38, Chargers 21

by Laddie Morse

Well, I’ve inputted all the data into my grand data debased brain and it has spit out (not literally) the final score of this weekends tilt between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Sandy Angeles Chargers. Here are the reasons why these Chiefs will demolish those Chargers in L.A. at the StubHub Center on Sunday.

1) 4-and-1 and 14-and-1. Those are the records of Andy Reid, A) on opening day since he’s been in K.C. and B) with extra time to prepare following the Bye Week. 

There’s no denying that Andy Reid does much better when he has had time to prepare. This will be no different and with a younger group of players he will have been sure to spend more time preparing for opening day in L.A..

2) 8-and-0. That’s the record the Chiefs have over the past 8 games vs the Chargers. Sometimes a team has another teams number and it appears that the Chiefs have the Chargers number locked away where they will never find it. The Chargers players and the Chiefs players all know what’s happened over the past four seasons and the Chargers have a greater psychological disadvantage to overcome than the Chiefs have to continue this trend.

3) Injuries and Fatalism. The Chargers always seem to lose too many key players to stay healthy enough to make it over the hump and 2018 has already begun with that same pattern. DE Joey Bosa is out and has been in a boot for a month. CB Jason Verrett, perhaps the Chargers best CB, is out for the year with a torn Achilles. Their best TE, Hunter Henry is out for the year with an ACL. Defensive Lineman Corey Luiget had foot surgery in June and when he is ready to return he’ll first have to serve a four-game suspension for a PEDs violation.

Even though the Chiefs offense hasn’t come together in the way we’d like to see this offseason or during Preseason Games, you might want to look more to the days of Training Camp for clues to just how efficient they will be once the live ammunition begins to fly. Which leads me to the next reason the Chiefs will win big tomorrow…

4) 42-to-27. That’s the score the Chiefs beat the defending Super Bowl Champions by on opening day last year… on their own turf. Ask yourself which team is better: the 2017 N.E. Patriots, who went to the Super Bowl, or the 2018 L.A. Chargers (who are likely not even the best team in their own city)?

Andy Reid devised a game plan that included downfield attacks we’d never seen before and sweeps utilizing his new RB’s skills and the defense got after Tom Brady and made life miserable for him, especially late in the game. If the Chiefs could rattle Brady in his own house, they can get to Rivers in Los Angeles. Which brings me to my next reason for a Chiefs blow out…

5) Philip Rivers Temperament. Let’s be clear, Philip Rivers is a Hall of Fame quarterback. Period. However, we’ve seen him get upset and off kilter enough to know that it’s always a possibility when the Chiefs go up against him. If this game goes by the Reid script, which will likely be to get ahead and force Rivers to come from behind, we’ll see him throwing the ball a lot more. Now, you might think that Rivers throwing the ball more is not great for the Chiefs given the state of their defensive backfield but, anytime Sutton “knows” for sure what another team is going to do, he’s got an advantage and a scheme to go get em.

By the way… Philip Rivers still lives in San Diego and commutes 3 days per week. On the days he does drive home on his one-hour and 14 minute trip, he pays a driver $200,000 per year to get him there safely while he rides in the back of a deluxe and well out fitted Escalade. See below:

6) Stop RB Melvin Gordon or Bust. The Chiefs have made a number of offseason alterations to their defense in order to stop the run. While we haven’t seen that all come together in the preseason games, defenses across the league usually get an early season advantage before the offenses have a chance to catch up. If the Chiefs can hold Melvin Gordon from breaking huge gainers and they can keep him under 50 yards in the first half, it will go a long ways towards a win.

7) Who Knows Who Better? Ask yourself: do the Chargers know what the Chiefs are going to do better than… the Chiefs know what the Chargers are going to do? In the past 8 game vs the Chargers the Chiefs have won by a total of 209-to-110. That’s approximately 26-to-14 every time they play. With the Chargers defense without some key pieces and the Chiefs offense trying out their new high-flying routine, there’s no reason why the Chiefs can’t come away with a huge victory. 

8) Chiefs Fans in Los Angeles. I heard a Chiefs fan in Los Angeles interviewed on local K.C. Sports radio and he was telling a tale that included owning StubHub Center so much so that you might see more red on Sunday than blue. He said the city has not embraced the Chargers like they have the Rams and that the stadium is rarely full.

9) Chiefs Special Teams Dominate. The Chiefs have improved their Special Teams this offseason and given Dave Toub some wonderful pieces to work with. If the Chiefs can win the field position game consistently — and they should — it will be a big advantage. Gus Bradley is in his 2nd season as the DC with the Chargers so he’s only seen the Chiefs twice, both losses. Sutton came in with Reid in 2013 so he’s been there and done that a time or two more than Bradley. Not only that but, Andy Reid is a master at game planning for the Chargers and they always look like they’re playing their first game ever as an organization when they face the Chiefs: the Chiefs have held the Chargers to 3 points twice during the past 4 years, and 10 points or less, four times.

10) Shootout or Shot Down? Sometimes an apple is an apple and when the Chiefs have been saying they plan on using every part of the field for force DBs to stay honest and not load the box… that’s exactly what they mean. The Chargers might score early but so will the Chiefs and the Chiefs won’t stop scoring so… the Chargers won’t know how to stop them. I think Reid will devise a simple (to execute) and complex (for the Chargers to decipher) game plan which should lead to a big win.

Take Away the Game Ball. If the Chiefs can win the Take-away game, they should win the game. The Eagles won the Take-away game on Thursday evening and won a close game. Speaking of that game…

Throwing My Red Flag, Note: if the Chiefs can minimize penalties, they should do well in L.A.. The NFL season opener pitting the Atlanta Falcons vs the Philadelphia Eagles saw more penalties than in any game last year.

That’s 26 times the game was stopped. The NFL will need to fix that if they want to keep fans in their seats this year. If you add the penalty yards together, that number of yards represents more yards than the Eagles gained in the whole game. Now, what’s wrong with this picture?

Bonus Bingo Hot Tip: The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t lost in LosAngeles since September 25, 1994, the last year the Rams were in L.A. before they moved to St. Louis. I think the winning streak will stretch to 24 years with a win tomorrow. Go Chiefs!

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