Kansas City Chiefs need to beat Chargers or panic will hit
The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl favorites and sitting at 1-1. However, a loss this weekend to the Los Angeles Chargers would cause panic.
Confidence is a fickle thing. Get on a win streak, it’s abundant. Lose once, it’s shaken considerably.
Kansas City Chiefs fans are finding that out the hard way right now. After making consecutive Super Bowl appearances — and winning one — over the past two years, the Chiefs are odds-on favorites to get back and win it all once more. However, after a narrow 33-29 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, Kansas City fell 36-35 to the Baltimore Ravens last weekend. All the more concerning is that they blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.
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With the Los Angeles Chargers coming to town, the loser will be alone in last place of the AFC West, with both the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders 2-0 and favored this weekend.
Realistically, the Chiefs shouldn’t be panicking regardless of the result on Sunday. Kansas City has one of the most talented teams in recent memory. Although the defense has become a cause for early concern. The Chiefs are allowing 32.5 points per game while ranking dead last in yards and points per drive allowed, rushing yards against, rushing yards per attempt against and red zone percentage, where opponents are 8-for-8.
Now, conventional wisdom says things can’t get worse on that side of the ball. With a veteran coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo and stars in defensive end Chris Jones, safety Tyrann Mathieu and corner L’Jarius Sneed, things should improve somewhat dramatically.
Until they do, though, it’s only a belief and not a fact.
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If the Chiefs ride their high-octane offense to a win over Justin Herbert and Co., all is right in Kansas City. The Chiefs will have played a brutal three-game stretch and emerged 2-1 with the Philadelphia Eagles on deck. Looking at their slate, Andy Reid’s team should feel much better about the last half of the schedule than the first, which still includes dates with the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills, albeit both at Arrowhead Stadium.
Of course, a loss to the Chargers and the alarms will be sounding across Kansas City. At 1-2, the Chiefs would be searching for answers in a season where many on the team openly talked about their desire to go 20-0.
For now, the Chiefs and their fans have confidence and rightfully so. A loss, though, and it’ll vanish from those who are a bit faint of heart.
