Even with the San Diego Chargers at 2-7 on the season, it's surprising to see that the Kansas City Chiefs are 3-point favorites in San Diego next week.
The 4-5 Chiefs are coming off three straight wins, including last week where they might have retired Peyton Manning. The Chiefs need to keep winning to keep playoff hopes alive.
The Chargers are a really weird team. Philip Rivers is having a great statistical season but the Chargers are 2-7. They have been decimated by injuries. Their last five games - all losses - came by scores of 3, 3, 8, 7, 4. They have one game this season that wasn't decided by one score.
That tells me that the Chargers probably aren't as bad as you would think a 2-7 team is. It kind of reminds me of the 2012 Chiefs who, yes, were a bad team but didn't feel like they were 2-win bad.
This quote from Bolts From The Blue probably doesn't give enough credit to the Chiefs defense but I can see where their frustration comes from:
"This game will be a stiff reminder of just how insane it is that the Chargers and their Hall of Fame QB and Hall of Fame TE can't keep up with Alex Smith and whoever else is on the Chiefs."
I mean, they're not wrong. It really doesn't make sense.
Meanwhile, a win for the Chiefs would set up a big game the week after with the Buffalo Bills, who currently hold the sixth spot in the AFC playoff picture.