Around the AFC West: Chiefs continue to dominate their division
By Ellen Mathis
Let’s take a look around the AFC West as the Chiefs continue their dominance in the division and the rest of the teams are on the outside looking in.
Welcome back to another edition of Around the AFC West. Last week just wasn’t that exciting if you were a Chiefs fan – sure we all were worried about the potential trap game but were we really that concerned?
In the end, the Chiefs handled their business and continued their march to the first overall seed in the AFC and yet another AFC West crown. Before we dive into that, however, let’s look at the rest of the AFC West teams to see how they fared…
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers won a nail-biter against the Arizona Cardinals. Brandon Staley often ridiculed for his questionable decision-making at the ends of games, chose to go for the win on a two-point conversion rather than kick an extra point and play into overtime. In this instance, it worked. The miraculous touchdown by Austin Ekeler put them in a position to win at a point in their season when any loss really made their postseason hopes even further from their reach.
Austin Ekeler showing why he's RB1 ⚡️pic.twitter.com/92WG7XGqDp
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) November 28, 2022
While the Cardinals are a bad team, the Chargers rallied to another comeback win behind Justin Herbert who was 35 of 47 for 274 yards and three touchdowns. The Chargers now sit at 6-5 and really need to keep winning if Herbert wants to see his first postseason.
The Chargers continue, however, to be plagued by injuries. While Keenan Allen is back, Mike Williams was inactive for this game with continued ankle injuries. In addition, right tackle Trey Pipkins and center Corey Linsely both left the game in the second quarter. Pipkins injured his knee and Linsley was placed in concussion protocol.
Corey Linsley is in the concussion protocol, and Trey Pipkins aggravated the MCL injury in his left knee, per Brandon Staley.
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) November 28, 2022
The Chargers now have a divisional game against the Raiders on Sunday. The Raiders are such a weird team this year – sometimes there are flashes of brilliance and other times, they look horrendous. Regardless, this is a divisional game against a team that would love nothing more than to squash any postseason hopes. The Chargers better be on the lookout this weekend and I think we could see them fall back to .500.