Sunday | 4:25 ET
Week 7’s afternoon slate presents an AFC West showdown at Arrowhead Stadium. The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t quite looked like themselves this year on offense, but still find themselves at 5-1. The defense has been picking up the slack, having allowed the third least points through seven weeks. Meanwhile, LA has been middling around this season, sitting at 2-3. The team is coming fresh out of a tough, last possession loss to the Cowboys. They do not grade out well defensively, and might give the Chiefs a chance to get their offense rolling again.
Kansas City has made NFL fans grow accustomed to greatness. So, even though the team is seventh in points this season, the narrative is that they have been struggling. It is true though, this team usually would be top-three in this category. They are coming off of a 17-point performance against an abysmal Denver Broncos defense.
Head coach Andy Reid’s offense centers around the quick game. However, even this type of offense needs to hit on a deep ball every once in a while to keep the defense honest. This hasn’t been happening, but this may change in Week 7. Both of LA’s starting safeties rank in the bottom quarter of the league in PFF grade this season, and starting cornerbacks Ja’Sir Taylor and Michael Davis rank 107th and 105th out of 111 qualified cornerbacks this year, respectively. As long as star quarterback Patrick Mahomes avoids CB Asante Samuel Jr, he should be able to push the ball downfield at will. I expect to see several long completions to Mahomes’ young weapons. After the Chiefs take over the lead, running back Isaiah Pacheco will take over.
On the other side of the ball, the Chargers have numerous weapons on offense. However, they’ve only surpassed the 30-point mark once, and will be facing an underrated Chiefs defensive unit on Sunday. CB Trent McDuffie ranks 1st out of 111 qualified cornerbacks according to PFF, and Chris Jones is an absolute game-wrecker at defensive tackle. It will be interesting to see the battle between McDuffie and Chargers WR Keenan Allen-who has had a fantastic year- in the slot. QB Justin Herbert will probably try to attack CR L’Jarious Sneed more frequently, but Allen has to have a big game if the Chargers are going to come out on top. RB Austin Ekeler is finally back healthy, so he will provide a nice boost the the offense.
In the end, Kansas City comes out on top. They’ve only lost once so far and I can’t see that changing at home against such a poor secondary. Mahomes just might have his best game of the season.