FanPost

Chiefs v. Chargers - A Gut Check

Well, it's almost time for the regular season to begin. As you all know, we are facing an age-old rival in the Chargers. Many of us feel that we must win this game. I am one of those people who feel that we need to win this game. It will bring back a lot of optimism to KC. As a matter of fact, we all have a good amount of optimism now!

Well, maybe a little too much optimism.

Some of us think we are guaranteed to go 8-8. Some of us have gone the extra mile and think we will go 10-6 or higher and make the playoffs. Many say it all starts with us winning this game. Well, I think we need to stop drinking Kool-Aid and calm that down...

In other words, I'm gonna water down your Kool-Aid...

First of all, let's check out the 2009 stats from the Chargers and Chiefs.

Chargers(Chiefs)

  • Passing Offense 5th (25th)
  • Rushing Offense 31st (11th)
  • Total offense 10th (25th)
  • Passing Defense 11th (22nd)
  • Rushing Defense 20th (31st)
  • Total Defense 16th (30th)

Not very close, is it? The only stat we win here is Rushing Offense. But, we have Jamaal Charles, a proven runningback and in his prime. They HAD LT who was pretty much done producing in SD. Plus, as much as I hate Philip Rivers, he is a great QB. Elite even. He doesn't need a running game to be great. Look at Peyton Manning, for example.

Then, we had 2 games against these guys last year and it was just ugly. We lost the 1st game 37-7. That was terrible. Then, hoping to redeem our sorry behinds, we went to SD and started playing pretty well...until the clock said 0:00 and the final score was an appalling 43-14. Now, in my opinion, one offseason later won't dramatically change the outcome of this upcoming game. Here are a few reasons:

Philip Rivers - Yes, Philip Rivers. The guy is an elite QB. no matter how much of a headache it gave me to write that just now. The guy has a 20-4 record against the AFC West. That's good, no matter how you look at it. He had a 104.4 rating, threw for 4,254 yards and 28 TDs, and this was done with the second-worst running game in the NFL. But, don't get me wrong.

I wanna see something like this on Monday Night, as long as it isn't illegal. Keep it clean, people!

Ryan Mathews - Then we have this fool. He was drafted in the 1st round by the Chargers since LT left them and Darren Sproles is more of a situational back. Our rush defense will have a test against this guy. I don't care if he is a rookie because the Chiefs have allowed people like Miles Austin and Jerome Harrison to show they exist in the league. Mathews could be a problem and don't act like he won't.

BUT, I would love to see this and I'm sure all of you would like to see it also.

Antonio Gates - Then, we have this bum. He has been a thorn in the Chiefs side for many games now. He always has his best games against us. Hopefully, with Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeil out, he won't do as much damage, but I have a feeling he will be the #1 target and we can't stop that.

Don't get me wrong. I just want this guy on his butt instead of the endzone. I don't want Antonio injured.

We are relying heavily on rookies - Whether you want to believe it or not, but we are relying on Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas to carry us through this game. Eric Berry, to not allow big plays; Dexter McCluster, to be that "secret weapon"; Javier Arenas, to give us better field position. I want them to do well, but if they mess up, remember that they are rookies and don't call for their heads. I hope they can handle the pressure in their first meaningful NFL game.

Here's to hoping our boys do well.

Matt Cassel - This guy is so bad against the Chargers. In the 1st game against the Chargers, he threw 3 INTs. In the 2nd game against the Chargers, he did better, but he fumbled way too much for my blood. Too many turnovers by the Matt Cassel-led Chiefs versus the Chargers in those 2 games.

Our 4 wins - Well, guys, this is a weird thing that happened in our 4 wins last year. Only 1 was against a QB that stayed in the whole game. That one was against the Broncos in the season finale, but he threw for over 400 yards with 2 INTS returned for touchdowns. Jamaal was definitely a factor, but still. You can't ignore this.

WAS victory - Jason Campbell leaves the game in the favor of Todd Collins. This guy was a backup

OAK victory - Jamarcus Russel beats us the 1st time, but this time around, he somehow looked worse than in the 1st game. He was benched in favor of Bruce Gradkowski, who almost led a touchdown-winning drive, but Darrius "Rock Hands" Heyward-Bey dropped a pass right into Mike Brown's hands, thus sealing our victory.

PIT Victory - Now, this was ok, but in overtime, it seemed like Big Ben was driving down the field to score, until he got a concussion. That may have saved our behinds in overtime. But, admittedly, we played well in this one.

SO, while I want to win this game as bad as the next guy, we need to remember that these few factors could be a reason as to why we don't win. Don't get upset if we lose. We have 15 more games to play and plenty of chance to prove that we are much better than last year.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.