The Kansas City Chiefs schedule continues on Sunday with the Oakland Raiders in a major divisional game. What should fans expect?
The Kansas City Chiefs versus the Los Angeles Chargers game was an interesting one to watch as a Chiefs fan. It was pretty obvious early on that the Chiefs didn’t exactly bring their ‘A’ game, but luckily neither did Philip Rivers and the Chargers. Yet, the Chargers had every opportunity to win the game at the end. The Chiefs defense was gassed and there wouldn’t be enough time left for the Chiefs offense to respond.
It made me a little sick to my stomach, especially considering we witnessed a nearly identical scenario when the Chiefs lost to the Tennessee Titans. The Titans had the ball with very little time left, the defense was gassed, and the Chiefs offense didn’t have enough time to respond. What’s worse, losing a game like this to the Chargers would have put the Chiefs in dire straits to win the division—at least at the time.
Luckily for Chiefs Kingdom, the Chiefs defense did just enough with a little help from Rivers to win the game. Make no mistake, Rivers is likely done in San Diego. His contract is up at the end of the season and his ability this season has shown a relatively steep decline. Even if it hadn’t, it’s tough to see him returning to the team at his age.
That said, a lot of credit has to go to the Chiefs defense for this win. Of Rivers’ four interceptions, three of them were great individual plays by the Chiefs defender. On the first interception, Tyrann Mathieu did a fantastic job disguising his robber responsibility, staying in cover two until the last second and making the play. Rivers may be physically depleted, but he’s still a savvy veteran. If Mathieu doesn’t play this like he did, Rivers doesn’t throw that ball.
The second interception was all Frank Clark. Clark abused his opponents last Monday night. Yes, there’s an argument to be made that he was facing someone who wouldn’t likely start for many other teams in the league. Still, Clark did what he was supposed to do and forced an errant throw that happened to fall right in the hands of Derrick Nnadi. This was a great play by Clark and great awareness by Nnadi.
The third interception was a great effort in coverage while making a physical play on the ball by Rashad Fenton. Fenton continues to impress me, and he showed exactly why on that play. He was billed as a player that would struggle physically in the NFL, but so far he has played far above that billing. To adjust mid-run, twist and make a play on that ball was impressive. If he can keep that up I could see him starting for the Chiefs for several years.
This was an ugly game, but one that championship teams need to be able to win. You don’t always have your best stuff, and the Chiefs definitely didn’t on this day. Yet, in the NFL a win is a win and this was definitely one the Chiefs needed. We now enter Raider week against a team that has been above average in some games and far below average in others. What should fans know heading into the contest?