The Chargers and Chiefs were locked in a title battle for the AFC West title in 2018 but does that make them rivals?
A few days ago, NFL.com writer, Adam Rank, released a list of the top rivalries for the 2019 season. Coming in second was the rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The teams don’t necessarily shed blood when they face off with each other but are clearly the two top teams in the division entering 2019. Thus, the question to be asked is the Chargers Chiefs rivalry really one to rank among the best in the NFL?
In 2018 the two games between the teams were among the best in the league in terms of divisional games.
This being due to the fact that they were among the most evenly matched among division rivals across the NFL.
At the end of the 2018 season, only two teams had a better record than the Chiefs, and Chargers (Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints)
Typically, being a rival of someone is a title that is earned.
It is the game players mark on their calendar and play the hardest because they don’t just want to win they feel a need to win.
There is a level of emotion in rivalry games that are missing from most other games.
Thus, division rivals is the best way to describe the Chiefs and the Chargers. They aren’t rivals in the true sense of the word.
There aren’t many teams in the NFL that are true rivals.
True rivals have a moment in their history where things went wrong like the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers or years of back and worth wins like the Chicago Bears and Packers.
These games have bad blood between the two teams where is there palpable tension coming off the field like the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Chiefs and Chargers aren’t blooded rivals rather simply healthy divisional competition.
That being said, these two teams certainly have the capability to become major rivals, especially in years to come.
This next season will bring new challenges, and if the two teams are playing as well as they did last year, tensions will undoubtedly rise
Philip Rivers seems to still have a quality seasons left. and if Patrick Mahomes proves to be more than a one-hit wonder, within a few years, these two teams could easily be true rivals.
