Three reasons to be encouraged by Chiefs win over Chargers

The Chiefs defense adapted and overcame a lot

I saw quite a bit of chatter on Twitter regarding the Chiefs defense. Most of this centered around the missed tackles, which I’ll admit were a consistently annoying factor during the game. Even so, I’d argue that this performance by the defense was a fairly good one considering the circumstances.

Right out of the gate, the defense was thrown a massive curve ball. Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback they had prepared for the entire week, would not be starting the game. It became clear rather quickly he would not play at all. In his place was the Chargers sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft: Justin Herbert.

Any time there is a last second change to a position of such monumental impact, this immediately increases the difficulty for the defense. All of the team’s preparation centered around what Taylor does when a play works well and what he does when a play breaks down. All of that helpful information, which tends to separate the successful from the unsuccessful in pro sports, went out the window five seconds before kickoff.

Add to that the Chiefs defense was missing a number of major contributors. At one point in the second half they were missing starters Frank Clark, Charvarius Ward, Bashaud Breeland, Alex Okafor and contributors Mike Pennel, Khalen Saunders, and Antonio Hamilton.

They were incredibly shorthanded against a completely new threat in Justin Herbert, who honestly has a lot more talent than Tyrod Taylor. While they ended up giving up 494 yards of offense, which isn’t ideal, they only surrendered 20 points. They missed a ton of tackles, which buoyed the overall offensive numbers, but made plays in pivotal situations to keep the Chargers off the board.

It was an ugly performance, but it’s the type of performance in which the Chiefs defense routinely failed in the past several years. The fact they made plays when they needed to when they were clearly not at their best is encouraging.

Conclusion

The Chiefs head to Baltimore for the clash of the early season between two Super Bowl favorites. They have a lot to clean up, as any early season team usually does, but they’ve had the edge against the Ravens the last two seasons.

The Chiefs open as 3.5-point underdogs, but with the importance of this game I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy Reid has been saving something special for just this occasion.