Kansas City Chiefs Vs San Diego Chargers, Game 2: Chiefs Report Card

San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews (24) Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSE

RUN DEFENSE: The Chiefs certainly missed Dontari Poe clogging up the middle, and Derrick Johnson running down ball carriers in space. Ryan Mathews shredded the Chiefs defense for 144 yards on 24 carries, and the Chargers had 186 yards on 36 rushes for the game, a 5.2 average. The Chiefs just couldn’t consistently prevent the Chargers from running right up the middle most of the day.

Most of the defensive lineman hadn’t played much this season, but they were on the field for almost 70 plays, plus special teams. They really were starting to look worn out in the fourth quarter and overtime. While they played very hard, and did some very nice things, the grade is based on results.

GRADE: D

PASS DEFENSE: The reserves actually played pretty well in pass defense, and certainly no worse than the regulars have played at times. Philip Rivers put up 229 yards  as he connected on 22 or his 33 pass attempts. In these two teams’ previous meeting, Rivers was 27 for 38 for 392 yards.

In that game, Rivers was only sacked once and didn’t throw an interception. Yesterday, the Chiefs got to him for 3 sacks, and picked him off once. The Chiefs also weren’t burned deep much, but they were damaged by the short catch and run patterns. Still, it was a strong day for the reserves, who did have some help from starters like Sean Smith, who left with an injury, and Akeem Jordan.

GRADE: B+

The Chiefs had trouble stopping the Chargers late as the reserves started to wear down just a little. Kansas City gave up a total of 405 yards on the day, including the extra period. In the end, they just couldn’t stop them enough when it counted, but the effort was very good.

OVERALL DEFENSIVE GRADE: C+