Chiefs vs. Chargers: Asking questions about Tyrod Taylor and more

A Chargers expert tells us more about Tyrod Taylor, Austin Ekeler and facing the Chiefs in Week 2.

On Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs face the first of several AFC West opponents in their goal to make it five straight division titles. While the Chiefs have Super Bowl aspirations in their bid to “run it back,” it’s also true that the easiest way to secure a spot in the postseason is to win one’s own division. That journey begins against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 for K.C.

In order to get a good read on this weekend’s opponent, we turned to Jason Reed, editor for Bolt Beat, to tell us more about Tyrod Taylor, Austin Ekeler and the rest of the Chargers.

What did Week 1 teach you about Tyrod Taylor at the helm of this offense?

It taught me what I already expected: Tyrod Taylor is a game manager. What was unexpected is that the offense did not play to his strengths, which is something we all kind of expected leading into the season.

Does it look like the team has a decent chance of filling the hole left by Derwin James?

Yes. Obviously, they won’t be as good without Derwin James, that goes without saying. But they have a really talented, young safety duo of Nasir Adderley and Rayshawn Jenkins as well as the help of Desmond King back at safety. At this point, safety really is not a concern for the Bolts, even without James.

The targets and totals for Ekeler and Kelley are interesting from Week 1. Was that indicative of anything? Too small of a sample size?

I think it is too small of a sample size to come to a pure conclusion, and I do think the team will make more of an effort to get Austin Ekeler going in the passing game. However, I would say that the Joshua Kelley touches are probably around what he will get every week as the team’s short-yardage/third-down back. They really liked him and reached a little bit for him in the draft and we are starting to see why.

How big is the loss of Drue Tranquill?

It is huge. The team can cope without him at linebacker just because how deep they are, but they are still worse off without him suiting up. Where it really hurts is in special teams. Tranquill really did have Pro Bowl/All-Pro potential as a special teams player this season.

If the Chargers win this game, it’ll be because…?

They force Patrick Mahomes to be uncomfortable and commit costly turnovers. It is going to take quite a bit, but the defense is going to have to likely score a touchdown themselves as well as give the ball to the offense in really good field position. It would probably be somewhere around a 23-20 game if that happened. Do I think it will happen? No. My score prediction is 27-13, Chiefs.