KC Chiefs: What we learned about each team in AFC West after week one

JACKSONVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 08: Kansas City Chiefs Running Back LeSean McCoy (25) during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 8, 2019 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Adrian Phillips #31 of the Los Angeles Chargers reacts after a tackle (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE CHARGERS?

Did anyone else hear Chargers fans actually making noise on Sunday? Amazing how all of a sudden they have “fans”.

Anyway – The Chargers should be the Chiefs’ biggest competition in the AFC West this year, but they didn’t exactly look all that menacing on Sunday. In fact, had Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri connected on just one field goal attempt, the Chargers would have been staring 0-1 in the face right now.

Unfortunately for Chiefs fans, Vinatieri couldn’t come through and the Chargers wound up winning it in overtime. The good news out of this is that the Chargers almost lost to a Colts team led by Jacoby Brissett. They also couldn’t stop the run to save their lives, allowing over 200 (!!!) yards rushing to Indy.

Let’s talk about that lack of run defense. LA surrendered 203 rushing yards to the Colts with 174 (!!!!) of those coming from Marlon Mack, who also found the end zone for a touchdown. The Chargers had no answer for Mack and it showed.

The Chargers held Brissett to under 200 yards passing though they weren’t able to snag an interception off of him. They did sack him two times though with both of those coming via the star pass rushers in LA: Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram.

Philip Rivers had a good day, going for 25 of 39 with 310 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. The downside for Rivers was that he was sacked four times.

The run game put up over 100 yards, splitting carries between Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson. Melvin who? Some might ask.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this segment, had Vinatieri connected with just one field goal, the Chargers would be 0-1 right now. So while they had an exciting overtime week one win, they got lucky.

For a team that prided themselves on their defense last year, Los Angeles couldn’t really brag about that on Sunday. That run defense was horrific and will be other teams’ goal to beating the Bolts this season. The Chargers travel to Detroit to play the Lions in the early window of games on Sunday.

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