Chiefs vs. Chargers game preview: Joey Bosa’s dominance is a big concern for K.C.

Injuries continue to be a problem for the Chiefs

Just when you thought that the Chiefs might be able to catch a break, with their first game in what seemed like a long time with no injuries against the Minnesota Vikings, multiple players succumbed to major injuries against the Titans.

Mitchell Schwartz, the consummate NFL iron man went down with a lower leg injury and halted his consecutive snaps streak at an incredible 7,894 snaps. Luckily for him he was able to return, but not before more injuries occurred as a result. Immediately after he went out, Martinas Rankin took his place and, one play later, went down with a major knee injury that ended his season.

Another big loss was Emmanuel Ogbah. After struggling to justify his high pick the first three years of his career, Ogbah seemed to turn a corner in Spagnuolo’s scheme and to this point leads the team in sacks. Unfortunately, like Rankin’s injury, a torn pectoral muscle will end his season as well.

This is the most injuries I can remember seeing as a fan. It’s why I think we need to cut the coaches, players, and the team as a whole some slack in all this. Football is a grind, and it can be tough to go out and play when you see your fellow teammates falling left and right to injury. Let’s just hope the team can get healthy in time for a playoff run.

My Prediction – Chiefs 35, Chargers 27

The Chiefs are the better team. This isn’t a subjective statement, it’s pretty obvious. They have a better coach, by far. They have a better quarterback, by even farther. Their receiving corp is possibly the best in the NFL, while the Chargers are simply pretty good. The biggest question here, and what will be the biggest question now the rest of the season, is what can we reliably expect from the Chiefs defense.

It looked like they had turned a corner at 100 miles an hour and had the thing that killed them so many times before finally figured out. I honestly believed this defense was finally good. Then they went and played the Titans and let Derrick Henry rush for 188 yards on only 23 carries. That’s a whopping 8.17 yards per carry. He absolutely decimated them and it truthfully looked like they didn’t want to tackle him at the end of the game.

Here’s the breakdown of this team in a nutshell. If they are healthy, they’re perfectly capable of putting up 30 to 35 points against anybody. Once they get in a groove, that might jump to 40 and most of this won’t matter. They’re not in that groove yet, and they need the defense to be reasonably consistent to beat an NFL team. We’ve now seen even average teams can put up 35 on this defense with all the mistakes included.

If the defense bounces back and can be even somewhat consistent, this should be an easy win for the Chiefs. If not, this could be a nail-biter. Either way, the Chiefs have to win this game.