1.) This is a classic matchup of underrated meets overrated
From the beginning of the season I’ve felt that the Chiefs are Chargers were pretty evenly matched, and even mirror one another in a lot of ways. Six weeks into the season, the Chargers are viewed by the national pundit class as a top 3 team, while the Chiefs wallow somewhere in the purgatorial mid-teens.
It’s easy to see why; the team is 5-1 and their QB is putting up MVP-like numbers. But against whom?
The winning percentage of San Diego’s opponents so far this year is .323 (11-23), while the Kansas City’s is .586 (17-12) and includes three of the four teams that made it to the AFC and NFC Championship games.
Oct 12, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) looks on after defeating the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The San Diego Chargers defeated the Oakland Raiders 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Chargers have not beaten a team this year that currently has a winning record – even that win at home against the Seahawks isn’t so shiny now that Seattle has dropped to 3-3.
Their one game against a winning team was their 17-16 opening loss in Arizona, where San Diego QB Philip Rivers finished with 238 yards with 1 TD, 1 INT and a 75.9 passer rating. In short, San Diego is overrated in the same way that (dare I say) the Chiefs were overrated in the middle of last season.
Exchange their schedules over the past six weeks and I think its easy to see the Chargers falling 2-3 and the Chiefs getting close to 5-1 beating up on the likes of the Jets, Raiders and Bills. In the end, I think both of their records will balance out by the end of the year, we’re just seeing them at two different points in the process. It’s like two riders doing the Tour de France from opposite ends – one guy is in the mountains, the other is in the plains, sure the second guy looks faster now, but he’s going to have to ride through those same mountains later and visa versa.