KC Chiefs vs Chargers II: Analyzing San Diego's Football Tendencies

The Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) play an AFC West rival this weekend when they visit the San Diego Chargers.  KC currently holds a two game lead over the division with Oakland and San Diego both sitting at 6-6.

The first meeting between these two teams ended in a wet Monday night victory for the Chiefs.  In that game San Diego rushed for 109 yards and passed for another 208.

The Chiefs will have there hands full with the San Diego offense led by Phillip Rivers.  Phillip has become one of the premier passers in the NFL and has some interesting numbers of interest.

• Phillip Rivers is ranked 4th in the NFL in pass accuracy when throwing the ball deep right, 5th when throwing deep middle, and 7th in the NFL when throwing deep left.

Every team in the NFL has strengths and weaknesses, tendencies, and go-to guys.  They have plays they like to call during tight situations or directions they like to run when in the middle of the football field.

Let's check out those tendencies.

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Charger Rushing Offense

Charger Rushing Notes:

• Two particular areas stand out when looking at the San Diego rushing tendencies.  First, San Diego is 7th in the NFL with 118 attempts when rushing the ball directly up the middle.  And when they do rush up the middle they average 4.1 yards per carry.
• The second tendency of note is that of rushing toward their left tackle (defensive right).  The Chargers are ranked 8th in the NFL in number of attempts rushed toward the left end with 50.  This is significant because the Chiefs defense is 29th in the NFL in yards given up per carry over that particular side (7.1 yds per carry, not shown in graph) .
• The Chiefs are ranked 1st in the NFL in yards surrendered over the right offensive end, or left defensive side (stat not shown in graph).  With the Chargers having no real tendency to rush toward that side...it does not seem likely that they will start with the Chiefs.
  

San Diego's Rushing Yards Per Team vs Defensive Rushing Rank 

• San Diego had a hard time running the football in both Oakland games.  Many Chiefs fans may remember the physical play of the Raiders front four.  Well, it looks like the Charges met with a similar resistance.
  
• San Diego would appear to not have played very many tough rushing defenses.  The highest ranked rushing defense that the Chargers have faced is 10th.  The Kansas City Chiefs are currently ranked 12th in the NFL in stopping the rush.

Charger Passing Offense

Charger Passing Notes:

• The Chargers like to throw the ball deep.  And Phillip Rivers is good at it.  As was stated on the front page of this post.  Rivers is ranked in the top 10 in pass completion to all deep thirds of the field  and Antonio Gates is the leading target with 11 catches of 25 yards or more.
• The Charges are ranked 7th in the NFL in attempts toward the short middle of the field.  Not only that, but they are ranked 1st in the NFL in yards per catch when they throw there with 9.0.  That tell us that the Chargers have a good tight end (no revelation there). 
• Darren Sproles is ranked 15th in the NFL in yards after the catch (stat not shown in graph).
• The Chiefs defense has only allowed opponents a completion percentage of 25% when throwing the ball to the deep left (Brandon Carr).  That is 1st in the NFL.  No doubt Brandon Carr's improved play has something to do about that number, but, many Chiefs fans also realize that coverage sometimes rotates toward Carr as Brandon Flowers takes on some one-on-one coverage.  Regardless of the reasons why the Chiefs are leading the NFL in this area...it is still a nice accomplishment thus far.  Beware though...Rivers can throw the ball deep.

Other Interesting Stats:

Stats Observations:

• The only significant stat here is the goal-to-go stat.  The NFL average in this situation is 69% and San Diego converts 86% of the time.  If the Chargers get in a goal-to-go situation...expect them to score.  Especially since the Chiefs are giving up the score 70% of the time.
  

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