Live Thread: Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers

Here we go, the Kansas City Chiefs biggest game of the season will be played today in San Diego. Are the Chiefs ready? Are you ready?

San Diego comes into today as one of the most hyped teams in the NFL. At 5-1 with a victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Chargers have played very good football through the first third of the season. But aside from the Seahawks game, a team that traditionally doesn’t play as well on the road as they do at home, the Chargers really haven’t played that difficult of a schedule. The Chiefs may have a better chance here than what some want to give them.

The key here focuses on three players: Dontari Poe, De’Anthony Thomas, and Travis Kelce.

Poe is working with a tremendous matchup in the middle of San Diego’s offensive line. Pro Football Focus rates the Chargers offensive line as one of the worst in football and Poe is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL. If Poe can dominate his matchup and set up sacks for Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, Kansas City should be able to slow down San Diego’s offense a bit.

Thomas and Kelce have to be solid in today’s game in supplement of Jamaal Charles. Probably not enough has been made of some of the key drops Kelce had in the Chiefs loss to the San Francisco 49ers two weeks ago, and Thomas has to be ready physically to contribute more than six snaps on offense. If the two of them can stretch the Chargers banged up defense to open up lanes for Charles then then Chiefs should be able to sustain a lot of drives and score enough points to win the game.

Disagree? Have something more to add? Discuss until kickoff.

Big game. Big, big, big game.

(Have I mentioned this is a big game?)