NFL
(9/15/22) 8:15 PM Eastern.
Spread: Chargers +4 / Chiefs -4
Moneyline: Chargers +170 / Chiefs -205
Total: Over / Under 54
The AFC West kicks off week 2 with the Los Angeles Chargers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The game kicks off at 8:15p.m. eastern time and airs on Amazon Prime.
LA Chargers (1-0)
Justin Herbert had an effective day in his season opener against the Raiders, throwing for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. He connected with 9 different receivers on the day, Keenan Allen paced the team with 66 yards but left the game in the 2nd quarter. The bad news, Keenan Allen is also out for this game. Mike Williams and Josh Palmer will need to turn in better performances than last week if they hope to compete with the Chiefs. The ground game also needs work, they rushed for just 76 yards on 39 carries. Star RB Austin Ekeler averaged just 2.6 YPC. While they couldn’t create rush lanes, the offensive line kept Herbert from getting sacked the entire game.
The defense was the star of last week’s game. They absolutely harassed Derek Carr and embarrassed the Raiders offensive line. The hype behind the pass rushing duo of Mack and Bosa was immediately justified. Mack racked up 3 sacks while Bosa had 1.5, they both forced a fumble too. This Bolts defense also picked Carr off 3 separate times, setting up the Chargers with a 2 play TD drive from the Raiders 31-yard line late in the 2nd quarter. Brandon Staley in his 2nd season as Head Coach has his very aggressive defense flying around and making plays. Going up against Andy Reid & Mahomes will let us know where this Chargers defense really stands.
KC Chiefs (1-0)
No Hill, no problem. Patrick Mahomes didn’t skip a beat, throwing for 360 yards and 5 touchdowns. Travis Kelce led the way with 8 receptions, 121 yards, and a TD. FA signings JuJu and Valdes Scantling combined for 10 catches and 123 yards. The ground game was impressive too, their RB’s averaged 5.5 yards per carry. They were able to do whatever they wanted to on Offense as they threw up 44 points against a weak Cardinals Defense.
Andy Reid’s offense blowing teams out week 1 is nothing new, but how well this KC defense looked is eye opening. They shut down a Cardinals offense that averaged over 373 yards a game last year. Starting RB James Conner averaged just 2.6 YPC and Kyler Murray threw for just 193 yards. 90 of those came once KC went up 37-7 and clearly took their foot off the gas pedal. In fact, more than half of the Cardinals total yards came after the Chiefs defense hit the brakes. They held ARI to just 7 points through the first 3 quarters. They tallied 3 sacks and 1 fumble recovery throughout the game.
The Pick
UNDER 54. Everyone’s expecting fireworks tonight, but this total is just too high. The Chargers offense didn’t look great last week, and no Keenan Allen tonight is a massive blow. Despite great field position and 3 takeaways from their defense the Chargers offense put up just 24 points last week. They couldn’t run the ball at all, and those struggles should continue against a Chiefs defense that just shut down a top 10 rushing attack from last season. The Chargers were also home last week, going into Arrowhead and dealing with that crowd noise is a totally different beast. Not so sure this Chiefs offense is as good as they looked either, they faced a Cardinals defense in week 1 that looked under prepared and lacking talent. They’re also playing a stacked Chargers defense tonight. Brandon Staley in year 2 with his group has what very well could be the #1 defense in football. Edge rushers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa form the best pass rushing duo in the NFL and that duo combined for 4.5 sacks last week. Expect plenty of handoffs to CEH and rookie Isiah Pachero to slow down that Chargers pass rush. Andy Reid also came into this season looking for more balance from his offense and they really are built to run the football. JuJu and MVS are two big strong physical WR’s on the outside that can block, Kelce is just a future Hall of Famer at tight end, and the revamped OL ranked 3rd in run block win rate last week. They’ll lean on a strong run game against this stout LAC pass rush. These aren’t the same teams from years past and this isn’t going to be the shootout everyone’s hoping for.
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