The Chiefs come into Week 15 with a 6-7 record after losing 20-10 to the Houston Texans. That 10-point victory for Houston was spurred on by their elite defense and their ferocious pass rush that the Chargers know all too well from their playoff loss this past January.
One of the biggest keys to the Chargers completing the season sweep against Kansas City will be how much their pass rush can affect Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. The Bolts do not have the likes of Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson out on the edge, but the duo of Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu, along with Odafe Oweh, can still force just about any quarterback off their spot.
Another factor will obviously be Herbert and the state of his surgically-repaired hand. The Chiefs will know this is a weak point for him and that may lead to their defense looking to focus their pressure points on his blindside to potentially force easier sacks if he’s not willing to protect himself with that side of his body.
Alright let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive in to the three things I’ll be watching closely when these team take the field on Sunday.
1.) How will the Chargers attack a depleted tackle position for the Chiefs?
As it stands just two days before game day, the Chiefs look like they’ll have to start Esa Pole and Jaylon Moore at left and right tackle. Pole made his NFL debut last week against the Texans while Moore was signed this offseason as a free agent but has mainly played in a reserve role before injuries mounted.
Pole had a fairly good outing against Houston where he allowed three pressures (one hit) and was called for a single penalty. Against that pass rush, not allowing a sack is definitely a good night, but the Chargers will be right there to see if it wasn’t a fluke.
As for Moore, he allowed eight pressures to the Texans and overall has let up 26 on the year. He did not play against the Chargers in Week One but he’ll get his fill of them this week if Jesse Minter has anything to say about it.
2.) Will the protection plan adapt at all after a disastrous game against the Eagles?
Justin Herbert ended up being sacked seven times against the Eagles which is now the most he’s ever been taken down in a single game. At one point, Herbert was being pressured on 72 percent of his dropbacks which, if it stayed on that pace through the end of the game, it would have been the most pressured a quarterback had in a single game in the Next Gen Stats era.
The Chargers won this game, however, which means the coaching staff is not likely to make any changes. In their eyes, they’re not going to fix what isn’t broken, even if it looked broken as all get out on Monday Night. The Chiefs have some real studs and plus-athletes on their defensive front. They’re going to look at the film and see that the Bolts struggle with A gap pressure and situations where the running back has to make a one-on-block in blitz pickup.
Kansas City is going to send the likes of Nick Bolton and former Charger Drue Tranquill up the middle all night long if they can’t find a way to plug that gap.
Here’s the cray thing though: Mekhi Becton played his best game in pass protection in Week One against the Chiefs when he posted an 88.1 pass block grade. In that game, he was called for two penalties but did not allow a single pressure on Herbert. Since then. however, Becton has just three games with a pass block grade over 60.0 and has allowed a team-high 29 pressures on the year, including eight against the Eagles, alone.
3.) Chargers offense must threaten vertical passing game, exploit weak safety group
The Chargers may be able to take advantage of a matchup this week in the form of Chiefs safety Chamarri Connor who has been free money this year in coverage.
Per Pro Football Focus, Connor has allowed 41-of-48 targets to be completed his way for 558 yards and three touchdowns. His coverage grade of 47.6 is also the worst on the team and by far the worst among all of their defensive backs who have seen any sort of meaningful playing time.
With this is mind, the Chargers may be able to give the Chiefs some of their own medicine by utilizing the deep ball and pressing the seams. Right off the top this could be a nice day for tight end Oronde Gadsden II if Greg Roman is able to get him matched up on Connor, and even Ladd McConkey could enjoy a bounce-back game after being shut down by Cooper DeJean on Monday night.
Tre’ Harris and Quentin Johnston are also ones to watch on deep routes this week, but McConkey is currently the fastest receiver (outside of the injured Derius Davis) and he’s truly due for a big day. Call it a gut feeling, but something like that happening against the Chiefs just makes sense.
