KC Chiefs: Five things we learned in week 11 win vs Chargers

The KC Chiefs won a must win game on Monday night, taking down the LA Chargers by a score of 24-17. What did we learn about the good guys in this game?

With another game in the books, it’s time to look at what we learned about the Kansas City Chiefs after they moved to 7-4 on the year.

OFFENSE CAN BE SLOWED DOWN

While the offense would get off to slow starts in games last season, they’d usually make adjustments and explode in the second half. This year, the offense hasn’t been nearly as explosive, and that’s why this team probably isn’t a Super Bowl contender in 2019.

BEND, BUT DON’T BREAK DEFENSE

In the Alex Smith years, we saw the Chiefs defense serve as more of a bend, but don’t break unit. They’d give up chunk plays, but when the game was on the line, they almost always came through with a sack, a turnover, or something that would help give Kansas City the win.

The defense has been a headache this year, but they had their “bend, but don’t break” moments time and time again on Monday. They picked off Philip Rivers four times and sacked him twice, also hitting him seven times and putting him under duress throughout the battle.

If this defense continues to show up, the Chiefs have a chance to at least make a bit of a run come January.

RUNNING GAME NEEDS HELP

When the leading rusher for the game is Patrick Mahomes, clearly something isn’t right. Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy both went down with injuries and left the game, forcing Darrel Williams to step in and he might be the man at RB1 moving forward.

Running the ball has been an issue for KC all season, so maybe these injuries force the Chiefs to sign someone or perhaps it’ll finally be Darwin Thompson time in Kansas City. Whatever ends up happening, hopefully it helps this unit find its mojo.

OFFENSIVE LINE LOOKED IMPROVED

It was certainly noticeable having Eric Fisher and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out there on Monday night. A lethal Chargers pass rush consisting of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram only sacked Mahomes once and hit him just five times.

No, the line play wasn’t perfect and they need to open up holes more in the run game, but this was a huge improvement from the last few weeks. Cameron Erving wasn’t out there and that was the biggest win for anyone on Monday.

AFC WEST IS MORE COMPETITIVE THAN WE THOUGHT

Let’s just say it – The Chargers probably should have won this game. Were it not for four interceptions thrown by Philip Rivers, the Chiefs might be in second place in the AFC West right now. Los Angeles moved the ball pretty easily against them and showed they can hang with the Chiefs.

Kansas City has a crucial game against the 6-4 Raiders in week 13 and if they lose that one, they might be looking up at the division leader Raiders. The Chiefs were the best team in the division at the start of the year, but after so many injuries and disappointing losses, is that still the case?

CONCLUSION

The bye week has finally arrived for the KC Chiefs and it’s a much needed week off for these guys. Now they have time to rest up and get healthy for what could be the division deciding game between the Chiefs and the Raiders in week 13.

We know how good Andy Reid is coming off a bye, but the fact that the division is even still up for grabs is disappointing. Kansas City was supposed to run away with the AFC West this year and now here we are with the division in play for the Raiders to potentially win it.

dark. Next. Winners and Losers from Week 11 vs Chargers

Time to rest up during the bye week and get ready for the home stretch!

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