How KC Can Claim the AFC West in Cali Today

Our Kansas City Chiefs hope to wrap up the regular season with a win over the cellar-dwelling Sandy Eggo Chargers this afternoon. On most weeks, I would think of the Chargers as "New England Light", since they're a very similar, but less-effective team. Today, they're without their top-ten running back Melvin Gordon, but it’s still hard to tell how the Chargers will respond to losing against the Cleveland Browns last week. I can't tell you if this 5-10 squad will get mad and play well or get sad and pack it in today. This could be the Chargers’ final game in San Diego after all, so they could still be psyched into playing this game like it’s important to them.

KC’s ineffectiveness against the run would’ve been key in this article if not for Gordon’s hip injury, but the lack of their starter makes the Chargers’ rushing attack less-than-scary. Gordon’s contributions gave him the 10^th-highest rushing yards total in the NFL and the 8^th-ranked yards per game average. Even with him healthy, San Diego ranked 27^th in rushing yards per game. The Chargers can only successfully run the ball in a certain context, and that context is handing the ball to Melvin Gordon.

Philip Rivers helped the Bolts become the 6^th-ranked passing offense in the league, but KC has already beaten the #9 Raiders (twice), #7 Colts, #3 Falcons and #1 Saints. Rivers can still have a tremendous game and be beaten, and none of his receiving options are outstanding right now. Tyrell Williams leads the team with 989 receiving yards, which ranks 17^th among all NFL receiving options. Dontrelle Inman, the #2 threat on San Diego’s roster, ranks 50^th league-wide.

Despite KC having a clear advantage, today’s game is still tough to predict. The Chiefs' 31 total takeaways make for the league's highest total, but San Diego's 27 takeaways ranks 4th. If KC is on the wrong side of the turnover ratio today, the Chargers can shorten the game with short passes, limiting KC's chances on offense and ultimately threatening the Kingdom's chances at a division title this year. Despite the Chiefs being forced to play in the terrifying atmosphere and abhorrent weather of San Diego, I think the Kingdom rings in the New Year with a 30-23 victory. We’ll dig deeper into playoff drama once we know who and when KC plays next.

Doug LaCerte sometimes uses Twitter @DLaC67, and he still has Facebook.