5 Questions with Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs week, baby!

Are ya’ll ready? I sure as heck am.

Like every week, we reached out to our Kansas City sister site, Arrowhead Pride, to get some additional insight into this week’s opponent. A big thanks to Tom Childs for his help!

Let’s get into it.

1.) The Chargers have had some success recently against the Chiefs when it comes to defending the pass. Two of the last three games against a Patrick Mahomes-led offense, the Bolts have held him to under 200 yards passing. How do you believe the Chargers have been able to keep him limited? Is this something Chiefs fans are worried about heading into Sunday’s contest?

Of all of the teams that Mahomes has faced it certainly appears to me that the Chargers are the one team, he has to work the hardest against. Yes, he is up for the challenge but nothing seems to come easy. With Gus Bradley now with the Raiders, I am kinda clinging on to hope that Patrick might have some more success against the Chargers, but I’m not overly hopeful - especially with Derwin James back in the mix.

2.) The Chiefs are currently last in total defense through two weeks of the 2021 season as they have allowed an average 469.0 yards per game while also giving up 32.5 against Cleveland and Baltimore (28th in NFL). What’s the panic level right now for the fan base? Is this really that big of an issue when the offense is as explosive as they are?

The defense has been flat our dreadful, that is for sure. That being said I am trying to be more positive after a few days to reflect on the loss to the Ravens. I think both of the Chiefs’ games so far this season have had factors that meant they would have struggled, regardless. Against the Browns, they were missing both Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu - with the latter being a huge miss of course. While, against the Ravens, the Chiefs had to deal with the Lamar Jackson factor. I think we’ll get to know who the Chiefs defense truly is this Sunday when they face a more modern NFL offense, while also being at full strength,.

3.) Are there any underrated Chiefs players that you believe could make an impact on Sunday? What about someone that Chargers fans may not have heard of all that much?

Underrated implies that they have been playing well so far this season when it really hasn’t been the case. It’s been the usual suspects that have been dragging the Chiefs along so far this season. But if I had to name one, then I’ll go with right guard Trey Smith. He’s a name on the lips of all Chiefs fans right now. For a sixth-round pick, the impact that he has made immediately is worth far more than his draft position. Brett Veach got himself a steal there.

4.) When you look at this Chargers team, what do you think worries the Chiefs the most? Where do you think the Chiefs are the weakest (position-wise) so far this season?

Where do I start? I think this is a really bad matchup for KC, and the Chargers are probably the worst possible opponent for the Chiefs right now. Justin Herbert is a stud - Keenan Allen will give any cornerback grief - and their defense is always in and around the ball. But ultimately, it is the variation of the Chargers’ offense that will give the Chiefs fits, especially their linebackers. That particular position group has been found wanting on more than one occasion. I don’t expect Sunday to be any different.

5.) Go ahead and give us a final score prediction along with a few sentences on how you think the game will play out on Sunday.

Sorry to all of the KC fans reading this but I think the Chiefs drop another on Sunday. We have seen in the past that losses under Reid aren’t normally a single event. There is always some kind of hangover and the fixes are never immediate. The Chargers should rightly fancy their chances of grabbing a win at a nervous Arrowhead Stadium. Chiefs 30 Chargers 33.