Kansas City Chiefs: Ranking every opponent on 2019 schedule
By Kole Berrey
TIER 1: CONTENDERS
3. Los Angeles Chargers
I wanted to put the Chargers higher here, but I just couldn’t. Looking at their roster, they may have the deepest and most complete team in the league. That is a testament to their team building and drafting.
Derwin James is a star. After that? There are a lot of good, but not great players. For all the Philip Rivers talk, his numbers were strikingly similar to that of Kirk Cousins last year, and the narrative of those two were drastically different.
Let’s look at them side by side:
Philip Rivers: 4,308 Yards, 32 Touchdowns, 12 Interceptions, 68.3% Completion, 105.5 Rating
Kirk Cousins: 4,298 yards, 30 Touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 70.1% Completion, 99.7 Rating
The only thing really separating these two players is team record. So when comparing Rivers to other quarterbacks like Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Patrick Mahomes, it is fair to question just how high up on that list he can go.
The same can be said for guys like Keenan Allen and Melvin Gordon. They are great for sure, but do they measure up to the likes of elite players at their position? Allen isn’t DeAndre Hopkins, and Gordon isn’t Saquon Barkley.
The Chargers have a ton of really good players, which will be enough for them to be a force next year. I can’t put them any higher than three, however, because they have never gotten over the hump with those players before. That changing next year seems unlikely.
Will they make the playoffs? Undoubtedly. Will they challenge the Chiefs for the division crown? Definitely. Past that, there are a couple other teams better than the Chargers on the Chiefs’ schedule.