Chiefs vs. Chargers: Can we believe again?
By David Thomas
Peters and Revis vs. Keenan Allen & Tyrell Williams
By far the biggest thing to watch in this matchup will be how the Chiefs secondary performs with both Peters and Revis as full-time starters.
In just his first game as a starter, Revis put up a performance that put him as the #1 corner in coverage for week 14. In 41 coverage snaps, he allowed just 1 reception for 8 yards on 7 total targets. That is a sensational performance for a 32-year-old corner, but honestly shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to Jets fans. Over his last 5 games with the Jets, Revis was ranked as the #4 corner in coverage. Looks like this old dog still has some gas left as a premier cornerback in this league.
Overall in 2017, Peters has been a little disappointing. Back in 2016, Peters finished the season ranked as the #8 corner by QB rating allowed (66). In 2017, Peters currently sits as the #48 corner with a 88.8 QB rating allowed in coverage. That’s not to say Peters hasn’t played well in 2017. He’s still had 3 of the Chiefs top 5 performances this season on a per game basis, but his play has been wildly inconsistent.
Thankfully this week Peters will be facing the Chargers against whom Peters had his second best performance of the season. Peters allowed just 3 receptions for 20 yards and a pick. With Revis now a full go in the game plan, hopefully we will see more of his game-breaking performances.
However, Keenan Allen is finally having the season Chargers fans have been hoping since his rookie season. After back-to-back seasons ended by injury Allen has started 13 games this season and is on pace for the best season of his career. Over the last 4 weeks alone Allen has racked up 547 yards and 4 touchdowns on 39 receptions. Back in his week 3 game against the Chiefs, Allen managed just 5 receptions for 61 yards. I expect to see a fairly similar stat line against this renewed Chiefs secondary.
Over on the other side of the field, Tyrell Williams has carved out a nice role in the Chargers offense. With Allen’s injury in 2016, Williams exploded onto the scene with 69 receptions for 1059 yards and 7 touchdowns after having just 2 receptions for 90 yards and 1 touchdown in his rookie season. With Allen back as a full-time starter Williams has taken up the #2 spot and continue to play well. Of all receivers who have started at least 25% of their teams snaps. Williams comes in as the 12th highest rated receiver (113.2), slightly higher than his teammate Allen at 19th over with a 107.2 rating. Unfortunately against Revis or Peters I don’t see him winning either matchup. Back in Week 3 he managed just 2 receptions for 15 yards. I don’t expect much more than that out of Williams this week.