Kansas City Chiefs: AFC West is there for the taking

Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs over the past several weeks, they are in position to lay claim to the AFC West this Saturday.

Just like that, the Kansas City Chiefs are firmly in control of their own playoff destiny again. The doom and gloom of the past several weeks is now behind us, following a strong performance this past weekend against the Raiders. The Chiefs can lay a solid claim to the AFC West this Saturday night by beating the Los Angeles Chargers.

There is some hope starting to brew again in Kansas City. It’s not that the Chiefs won this past weekend, it’s that they looked dominant in a game against a Raiders team looking to make their own playoff push. It was the perfect victory for a team that has appeared to be on the ropes as we head to the end of the regular season.

For the first time since Week 5, the Chiefs put together a strong all-around performance on both offense and defense. It wasn’t a game without mistakes, but on the whole Kansas City played very well. They controlled the ball and came up with big plays on both offense and defense. You really can’t ask for much more.

Chiefs can basically win the AFC West on Saturday, even with a Chargers win today. Beat the Chargers on Saturday, and they'd effectively have a 1 1/2 game lead with 2 to play.
— Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) December 10, 2017

Saturday Is No Pushover

This weekend’s game will not be an easy one for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Los Angeles Chargers are coming in with a lot of momentum. Andy Reid told reporters yesterday that the Chargers are “red hot”. The Chiefs will need to find a way to curb that momentum early on in the game.

A big factor in this weekend’s game is going to be Alex Smith. The Kansas City quarterback has had a solid season, already setting a personal best in passing yards for a year. He’s also tied his career high for touchdown passes in a year. Smith, coming off of two solid performances in a row, has some real momentum and is showing his confidence again.

On the other side of the field, the KC defense will have to hold down Philip Rivers and a resurgent Chargers offense. Earlier this year, the Chiefs completely shut down Rivers and his teammates. Kansas City will certainly be hoping for a similar defensive performance this time around, but ultimately, we are trusting in the offense to deliver.

It should be mentioned that while the Chargers are on a roll as of late, their resume isn’t overly impressive. The two best wins that LA has this year is a Week 11 win over a Bills team that had sent out the hapless Nathan Peterman to start, and a Week 12 win over a Cowboys team playing without Ezekiel Elliott and sporting a beat up offensive line.

Time For Playmakers To Make Plays

A lot of the emphasis this week for the Kansas City Chiefs will be on Alex Smith continuing to play well. However, he is not the only key player the Chiefs need major contributions from. Kansas City needs to see Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Kareem Hunt put forth solid efforts. The offense is looking better after weeks of stagnation, which is a great sign.