Chiefs vs. Chargers: Kevin Pierre-Louis, Jarvis Jenkins come up injured
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs will have a couple more injured defenders moving forward after besting the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
The Kansas City Chiefs now need a single win in their final two games to officially put away any competition for the AFC West crown. To do so, however, they might be without a couple key defenders in the front seven as they turn ahead to face the Miami Dolphins next Sunday.
The Chiefs watched both linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins go down on Saturday against the Chargers in a 30-13 win. The Chiefs were able to put significant pressure on quarterback Philip Rivers, forcing four turnovers in the process, largely due to the talent of the front seven. That depth will be tested as the Chiefs try to close out the season.
Andy Reid said that both players will be ones to watch moving forward as their current status is currently unknown. One aspect working in favor of the Chiefs at this point is that the Saturday night game gives the team another full day to rest on Sunday as they prepare for the Dolphins. For many players, it will be a very welcome day to rest and relax and get with the team’s training staff to work through nagging injuries and fatigue at this point in the season.
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Pierre-Louis is the bigger loss of the two although Jenkins has certainly been playing well. The inside linebacker rotation with KPL, Derrick Johnson and Reggie Ragland has been working quite well, but Johnson’s deficiencies can be exploited, as seen by Antonio Gates’ touchdown catch in the third quarter, when the 37-year-old tight end had a clear step or more ahead of DJ. KPL’s athleticism is a necessary part of Chiefs coverage in the middle. He has 37 total tackles and 1 pass defended in 2017.
Jenkins has been a nice rotational piece along with Rakeem Nunez-Roches to help sub Chris Jones and Allen Bailey up front. Together, they’re able to frustrate an offensive line that wears over the course of 60 minutes. Jenkins has 7 tackles and 1 sack in 9 games this year.