Chiefs-Chargers: Five Early Thoughts Before Sunday’s Game
By Ben Nielsen
Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) celebrates a with tight end Antonio Gates (85) after throwing a touchdown pass to him during the first quarter against the New York Jets at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
THE CHARGERS ARE GOOD BUT HOW GOOD?
San Diego is your current AFC West division leader with a sparkling 5-1 record and a massive home win over the Seattle Seahawks. On the outside they look like a team who has a chance to steal the division away from the Denver Broncos.
Yet the Chargers have their own set of flaws to worry about.
Like the Chiefs fast start last season, the Chargers are the benefactors of a mostly soft opening schedule. After opening the season with a road loss to the Arizona Cardinals and a home win over the Seahawks, the Chargers haven’t really played the cream of the crop of the NFL with wins over the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, and Oakland Raiders.
Curiously, Pro Football Focus isn’t the biggest fan of the Chargers either. Despite their 5-1 start, the Chargers actually have a lower cumulative grade (-40.2) than the Chiefs (-39.1). Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Bills, Cardinals, Jets, and Jaguars have lower team grades than the Chargers.
Not all advanced metrics agree with PFF, however. Football Outsiders ranks the Chargers as the seventh best team in football in terms of team efficiency through five weeks (does not include Raiders game from Sunday). But FO does agree with the notion the Chargers schedule has been soft early, and ranks their remaining schedule as one of the 10 hardest in football. So we may not have seen the true identity of the Chargers just yet.
It is probably safe to say the Chargers are a good football team. You don’t take the Cardinals down to the wire on the road and then turn around and beat the Seahawks without being at least an average team. However, the Chargers are not a juggernaut and do have some weaknesses to exploit. This is a winnable road game for the Chiefs.