The Kansas City Chiefs struggled on both sides of the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers. Will those struggles carry over against the Baltimore Ravens?
For a game in which most of the country expected a blowout win, the Los Angeles Chargers challenged the Kansas City Chiefs until the very end in Week 2. Rookie quarterback Justin Herbert made his NFL debut last-minute and showcased why he is the quarterback whoshould be starting for Los Angeles. However, Herbert was not a stand-alone reason why the Chargers almost upset the Super Bowl Champions.
Problems were found on both sides of the ball for the Chiefs. The offensive line struggled against one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes started to drop too far back into the pocket, which made it harder on his tackles. At times, he would keep moving back instead of moving up into the pocket where he would have room to reset. Wide receivers dropped passes, tackles were sloppy, and effort as a whole in some areas was lacking. Lastly, the Chiefs committed 11 penalties after only having one the prior week. For reference, Pro Football Focus gave Chargers running back Austin Ekeler 10 broken tackles between running the ball and receiving.
It’s not hard to figure that if the Chiefs go into Baltimore on Monday night playing the same sloppy football they did against the Chargers, things likely will not end well. Players will have to be held accountable and clean things up if they want to hold the possible tiebreaker over the Ravens come playoff time.
Let’s focus on what Los Angeles did that caused issues for the Chiefs last week and see how it compares to Baltimore. Where are there similarities in scheme, personnel, and packages? How do the Chiefs matchup against another top-three team in the NFL?