Playoff fever is officially here and for the teams guaranteed a place, some are now waiting to see what their final spot in the seeding will be.
The Kansas City Chiefs are 62-55-1 against the Los Angeles Chargers in the regular season. They have won 10 of the last 11 times they’ve faced off. Coming into the game, the Chiefs are on a five-game winning streak while the Chargers are on a two-game losing streak having lost four out of their five last games.
It’s a tale of two teams, one looking to see how far they can go to win the ultimate prize and the other trying to finish out the season, regroup, and focus on next season.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have battled back from their mid-season slump, which was compounded by the injury to Patrick Mahomes to where they were at the beginning of the season. Their defense, which is currently ranked No. 7 overall, has steadily been improving over the season and has finally hit its stride going into the postseason.
The offense? It is what it is. Ranked No. 4 overall in total offense isn’t a bad place to be, and they will need to continue to take advantage of all the offensive weapons they’ve given Mahomes. Something tells me they won’t disappoint.
The Chiefs currently have the No. 3 seed position in the playoffs. If they want to move into the No. 2 position, not only do they have to win against the Chargers, but the New England Patriots must lose to the Miami Dolphins.
Is it possible? Yes.
Will it happen? Highly doubtful.
It’s also entirely possible that the Chiefs will lose to the Chargers and the Houston Texans will beat the Tennessee Titans, which would make the Chiefs drop to the 4th seed spot.
Not a happy thought for the Chiefs Kingdom.
No matter what happens, playoff seeding always makes Week 17 one of the most interesting times of the regular season. Fans root for teams they normally wouldn’t. Miami Dolphins, anyone?
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are playing for pride and trying to focus on ending the 2019 season as best they can in order to look toward the draft and the 2020 season. The best they can do right now is to beat the Chiefs and go into the offseason on a winning note. Despite Philip Rivers being an effective offensive weapon, the Chargers’ offense is ranked No. 21 overall in points per game, No. 8 in third-down conversions, and No. 24 in touchdowns per game. Rivers will be a free agent when the offseason arrives, so he’ll want to end the season on a high note. He’s currently No. 3 in passing with 4,334 yards.
The defense for the Chargers has given up 27.2 PPG in the five most recent losses, and when you compare that number to the 18.6PPG in the first nine games, it makes you wonder what happened. Despite the amount of talent, they are just as inconsistent as the offense. Some might point to the great start and now lackluster performance as a lack of motivation. For this game, trying to ruin the Chiefs’ playoff position would be a great start to ending the season on a high note.
What to expect
Given the performances on both sides of the ball for each team, the outcome favors the Chiefs. With their offense ranked No. 4 in passing, it’s a guarantee that Mahomes will be racking up more passes and yards. The rivalry between the teams might be enough to give fans a good game, but the Chiefs are still favored to win.
Prediction
Chiefs 28, Chargers 14
