A Return to Winning Ways?

This week, the Chiefs relished in having a very good problem on their hands. For the first time this season, KC must now learn to react to a loss. In a long-awaited return to Arrowhead, the Chiefs will have San Diego and the often-unbearable Philip Rivers to overcome this week. How will they react to their first defeat, and how often will Philip Rivers make you, for any of numerous reasons, want to slap him through your TV screen?

The Chiefs return to Arrowhead for the first time since November 3^rd for the teams' 107^th matchup. The 4-6 Chargers have won the last two meetings and 8 of the last 10. In their first year with former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy at the helm, the Chargers are potent but unpredictable. They started the year 2-3, fought their way back to a winning record, then promptly plummeted to their current position below .500 with a three-game losing streak. They've won against the Colts and played well against Denver, yet they lost to Oakland and Tennessee.

Kansas City is looking to return to their winning ways and avoid the start of a potentially mojo-killing losing streak. This is a huge game we'll be watching. With another face-off against Denver looming seven days in the distance, the Chiefs have a talented and bitterly angry squad to deal with. Will KC be able to overcome Rivers and Sandy Eggo at home today? Finish up with my five predictions to find out.

1- Ryan Mathews will absolutely not have the kind of day he had against Miami last week, when he took 18 carries for 127 yards. Look for the Chiefs to cut that yardage nearly in half today, limiting him to 70 yards or less on the ground.

2- An angry Jamaal Charles, on the other hand, should abuse the 16^th ranked running defense in the league. Doug Pederson gets wise and connects with him on at least two successful screen passes as well, giving #25 at least 110 total yards today.

3- Once again, KC probably needs to win the turnover ratio to win the game. Expect Shaun Smith, Marcus Cooper or both of them to snag a timely pick.

4- Rivers will get big yardage through the air, at least 300 yards, without turning it into a win.

5- At least three times, Rivers whines and makes facial expressions that anyone beyond elementary school should be embarrassed to make, as the Chiefs go on to win 20-17. I really do love to hate that guy.

One-Loss Woes, and Why They're Overblown

The first loss of the season is never fun. No matter when or how it comes, it will always bring with it new feelings of fear and uncertainty. This year, it came after a surprising 9-0 start that provoked just as much commendation as it did scrutiny. How bad will this hurt the team, and what does it say about their ability to compete against the league's best?

We should all take a deep breath, Chiefs fans. This loss doesn't prove KC to be a fraud in any way, as humbling as it may now feel. If anything, the Chiefs proved yesterday that they're just a couple adjustments away from beating the Broncos with their style of football.

The Chiefs held the Broncos to their lowest points total and Manning to his lowest completion percentage all year. That says a lot when you consider that KC never got to Manning all night. I predicted that Peyton would dink and dunk KC to death and limit sacks, but I sure as hell didn't think he'd go completely unblemished. It seems the Chiefs DC Bob Sutton was unwilling to blitz often, which is something he'll need to remedy in the very near future. Sadly, that's just one of the ways coaching lost this game for Kansas City.

Jamal Charles touched the ball 18 times last night. 7 of his 16 rushes went between the tackles, and his 2 receptions (for -6 yards) came with less than a minute left in the 4^th quarter, when the game was effectively over. While running up the gut clearly isn't Jamaal's specialty, the coaching staff can't be blamed for that one. KC's offensive line struggled, especially at the tackle positions, and their inadequacy allowed way too many rushing attempts to fail. To succeed on offense, OC Doug Pederson and the rest of the offense have to figure out ways to give their best asset big-play potential. Wasn't Jamaal supposed to be the new Brian Westbrook or Lesean McCoy? Please, give that man a damn screen pass.

Without properly using their most valuable player, winning the turnover ratio, sacking (or even knocking down) the opposing QB or completing half their passes on offense, the Chiefs still had Peyton furrowing his massive brow in concern until the last few minutes of the 4^th quarter. KC should be able to improve their blitz game, give Jamaal the ball in open space to beat Denver at home two weeks from now. Before that fateful game, the Chiefs have the impressively whiny Philip Rivers to deal with next Sunday. Tune in later this week for a look at the upcoming divisional face-off against the Chargers at Arrowhead.

Doug LaCerte operates this blog and writes a bunch of other stuff for Rant Sports. Follow him @DlaC67 for more Philip Rivers hatred, send any and all funny Chiefs GIFs to him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.

Meet the Gang, Part 2 (of Many)

They've cleaned house in Kansas City, and the rehiring process happens fast. When a team cans all but two major members of the coaching staff, there's a lot of work to be done in a small frame of time. Thanks to the aggressive attitude Clark Hunt brought to this off-season, that time-frame is being used wisely. Already now, we have too many new names and faces to familiarize ourselves with in one comfortable sitting. I'll be back here daily to introduce the fans to a small portion of this busload of new assistants at at a time. Today, we'll start with two coaches hoping to improve this woeful Chiefs offense.

Doug Pederson- While the hiring of Dave Toub was an understated improvement, the impact of this signing may be underwhelming. Andy Reid already announced that he will call the plays in 2013. In truth, Andy will act as the full time OC for this team, and that's a very good thing. Dorsey will be determining the personnel side of the team, so Pederson will have little effect on who suits up on offense. To me, it seems that Pederson was hired on to fill some sort of supportive role with Reid, where-in he would be a teacher, a calm veteran voice, and a mentor to the next franchise QB hopeful. The experience that comes from playing behind guys like McNabb, Marino and Favre should be much-appreciated.

Eric Bieniemy- Here, we have yet another hiring that reunites Andy Reid with a former employee. Bieniemy played 9 seasons with four NFL clubs, including Andy's '99 Eagles team, as a slash back, kick returner and punt returner. He began his coaching career by returning to his Alma-mater for two years as the Colorado running backs coach. Eric was hired in 2003 to the same position in UCLA, and after three years in Los Angeles, he was offered the same job in the NFL by the Vikings organization. Under Eric's coaching, Adrian Peterson exploded onto the scene and quickly became the most powerful rushing force in football. After briefly returning to Colorado to coach the Buffaloes' offense, Eric now returns to the NFL to mentor another elite running back. The Chiefs roster also includes Shaun Draughn, Nate Eachus and Cyrus Gray- three young rushers with 2 combined starts and 71 combined carries.

Although Bieniemy can claim all the impressive achievements of Adrian Peterson as proof of his own coaching success, he still arrives in KC as an unproven coach with a short resume. Just like nobody can stop AD from being a beast, fans in Chiefs Kingdom know that Jamaal is going to be Jamaal. No running backs coach in the league is going to influence what he does on the field- nor should they. So, this means the attention turns to the aforementioned youngsters and the impact Eric can have on their productivity. That's where the unproven part comes in. The year before the Vikings drafted Peterson, Chester Taylor averaged 4 yards per rush with 303 carries. Then, AD took the starting job and became the engine of the offense for the rest of Eric's tenure in Minnesota. After Peterson's arrival, no other running back recorded more than 157 carries for the Vikings in a season.

There's nothing in the stats that definitively says Eric is a bad choice. But, there's nothing to say that he'll make a big impact, either. Andy Reid seems confident in Eric's abilities, but the rest of us simply have to wait and see. Fans will be waiting with excitement and hope as they put all their faith in Andy Reid. I have a feeling it won't be the last time I say that, either. Each one of these hires is a major test of Reid's ability to scout for talent at the coaching level. Building a franchise from the ground up like this is something I've never seen before. Both as a fan and an analyst, I'm excited to witness what happens next in this high-profile experiment. You should be too, so come back tomorrow for further test-study analysis.