Three keys to the game for the Chiefs against the Chargers

The Chiefs will have had nine days rest to prepare for their best divisional opponent, the Chargers. Here are the three ways Kansas City needs to beat Los Angeles.

The cream of the crop in the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers have already faced off once this year, but I am not sure there is much to take away from that matchup. In week four, Rashee Rice got knocked out for the season early in the game and the Chargers were without both tackles, Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. It wound up a 17-10 win for Kansas City on the road after the Chargers failed to score after the first quarter.

The two teams are in completely different spots. The Chargers are healthier in some spots, although they will be without their lead back J.K. Dobbins on Sunday night. The Chiefs have learned to play without Rice with DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy taking a step up in their roles. Hopkins was not even around for the first matchup, and another thing that is different, is the Chiefs have clearly taken a step back on defense since the Jaylen Watson injury, which happened shortly after this game.

The Chiefs are coming off four straight appearances where Baker Mayfield, Bo Nix, Josh Allen, Bryce Young and Aidan O’Connell did what they wanted to for the majority of those games. Some of those guys did not have the biggest games in the box score, but that is because Kansas City’s offense was able to control the ballgame by running the football and converting third downs. Allen, Young and O’Connell did have huge games though, and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is more than capable of torching the Chiefs' defense if they do not figure something out.

The Chiefs are about to embark on a stretch where there is a lot of short rest and they are going to do so against very formidable teams such as the Chargers, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. Other than maybe the Browns, and even they are a wildcard because of the talent they possess, all of these teams can beat Kansas City if the Chiefs do not play their A or B game. Starting with the Chargers though, let’s dig into how Kansas City can move to 12-1 on the season and 5-0 in the division.