The Kansas City Chiefs defense has been playing much better in the past five games. Is it a coincidence that the best quarterback the Chiefs have faced in that time is Jay Cutler? Because the Chiefs were torched by two of the NFL's better quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Andy Dalton before that. Even Peyton Manning had his way with the Chiefs defense (for a drive) in Week 2.
That's why I'm really excited to see the Chiefs defense face Philip Rivers this weekend to give us a good test for where they're at as a unit. We know they can beat the Landry Jones' and old / bad Peyton Mannings of the world. But how about another shot at an elite quarterback?
Rivers is playing as well as any quarterback not named Brady right now. They just aren't winning games. The Chargers have the No. 1 passing offense right now going by attempts and yards. Rivers is completing 69 percent of his passes for 19 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He averages 337 yards per game and is on pace for nearly 5,400 passing yards. Yeah, he's lighting it up.
The last time the Chiefs faced a quarterback as good as Rivers* -- either Aaron Rodgers in Week 3 or Andy Dalton in Week 4 -- the Chiefs defense was giving up 30-plus points a game. That's back when we thought the Chiefs defense was broken. It's apparently fixed now as they haven't given up more than 18 points since that Bengals game in Week 4.
Cutler isn't on the same level even though he beat the Chiefs.
This game should give us a really good idea of where the Chiefs defense is. Are they truly elite or have they taken advantage of lesser teams? Rivers is going to get his, we know that. He's too good for the Chiefs to shut down completely. But I do believe that the Chiefs defense is better now than they were earlier this season, and that they should be the reason the Chiefs win.