How the Kansas City Chiefs can beat the Los Angeles Chargers

Chiefs’ Defense vs. Chargers’ Offense

Alright, the matchup that will determine the winner of this game.

Justin Herbert looked good on Sunday, throwing for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He spread the ball well, throwing receptions to eight different players. His leading receiver was Keenan Allen, who is very notably out of Thursday’s matchup.

A small note here that is important is that Herbert faced pressure on ten of his passes, despite the Raiders only blitzing five times.

Their running game was very underwhelming, averaging only 2.5 yards per carry. The starting back, Austin Ekeler, grabbed only 36 yards on 14 carries.

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs’ defense looked phenomenal in week one.

The Chiefs’ put pressure on Kyler Murray on 70.3 percent of his dropbacks, sacking him twice and only letting him get away for a scramble once. They broke up seven passes, grabbed four tackles for loss, and forced one fumble. The Cardinals only scored ten points on the Chiefs’ starting defense, with a field goal in the first half and finally a touchdown on the starters’ last drive on the field. They also held the Cardinals to 3 and 12 on third down.

The Gameplan

Right off the rip, blitz carefully and wisely. Justin Herbert is great when six men or more are blitzing. The Chiefs can likely get not just pressure, but sacks when sending four or five men after Herbert, and that’s how the Chiefs should start the night. Get in Herbert’s face with just four or five men, introduce him to George Karlaftis and Chris Jones, and get in his head. Then bring Leo Chenal and Nick Bolton and L’Jarius Sneed as the night goes on.

Next, the Chargers’ secondary is at it’s best for the first second and a half after the snap. Vegas’ receivers were breaking free all over the place on Sunday when Derek Carr gave the play more than a second and a half to develop. Protect Mahomes for two seconds, and the Chiefs may be able to get anywhere on the field. If there is faith in the offensive line, Mahomes can hang in the pocket. If there is not, call bootleg plays and run dagger concepts.

Next, do not make this a boat race, use the running backs. That ten minutes of time of possession that the Chiefs hung on the Cardinals can be achieved against the Chargers, given the 4.9 yards per carry they gave up on Sunday. Keeping Herbert off the field is the best defensive strategy. Let Pacheco and CEH do their thing, as they have looked like absolute units during the preseason and in week one.

Finally, and most importantly, make smart decisions. The Chiefs had very limited penalties on Sunday and only gave up one turnover. The Chiefs need to repeat that performance this week, hopefully minus the one turnover. The Chargers capitalized on the mistakes of the Raiders to win last week, and without them, they may not have pulled off a win over a team that is not nearly as good as Kansas City.