The Chiefs hope to build on a hard fought 13-10 win last weekend over the Vikings while the Chargers are trying to get their season going back on the right track.

The Chiefs would like to run the football to control the clock but that probably isn’t the best way to attack the Chargers defense.  The Chargers are only allowing 88.7 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry this season.  With Larry Johnson (140 yards rushing, 2.8 ypc) getting off to a slow start the Chiefs should attack the Chargers weakness on defense which has been against the pass.  The Chargers are allowing 249.3 yards per game through the air and opposing QBs have a 102.0 rating against them this season.  For this strategy to work the Chiefs must keep Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips away from Damon Huard who has already been sacked 7 times this season.  If Huard gets time to throw the ball, Tony Gonzalez (16 rec, 167 yards) and rookie WR Dwyane Bowe (10 rec, 135 yards, 2 TDs) could have huge games against the Chargers secondary.

The Chargers would also like to run the football and they could have some success against a Chiefs defense that is allowing 113.0 yards rushing per game but only 3.8 yards per carry.  LaDainian Tomlinson (130 yards rushing, 2.3 ypc, TD) has had a rough start to the season but the Chiefs defense is nowhere near as capable as the defenses that have already played the Chargers so look for L.T. to have a good game.  The Chargers must do a good job of protecting Philip Rivers in the pocket as the Chiefs already have 10 sacks this season.  With that in mind look for the Chargers to keep the passing game short to L.T. (14 rec, 99 yards) and TE Antonio Gates (27 rec, 297 yards, 2 TDs) which will put pressure on the linebackers and safeties of the Chiefs.  Also, look for Rivers to take a few deep shots to Vincent Jackson (13 rec, 179 yards, TD).

PREDICTION:  Look for the Chargers to play much better on offense than they have already as the Chiefs’ defense isn’t as good as the ones they have played this season.  But, the Chiefs will keep the game much closer than the 13 point spread.

The Kansas City Chiefs won this football game because of the defense and the late play of QB Damon Huard.  Huard looked like a different QB this week as he completed 20 of 29 passes for 206 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  RB Larry Johnson was bottled up the whole game long as he carried the football 24 times for 42 yards (1.8 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for a loss of 5 yards.  TE Tony Gonzalez had by far his best game of the season as he caught 7 passes for 96 yards (13.7 avg) and WR Dwyane Bowe was also outstanding with 5 catches for 71 yards (14.2 avg) including the eventual game-winning TD reception.  The Chiefs only finished up with 50 yards rushing on 31 carries (1.6 ypc) and they completed 20 of 29 passes for 201 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Chiefs.  Derrick Johnson led the way with 10 tackles but it was the defensive ends who were the real stars of the defense.  DEs Jared Allen (8 tackles, 2 sacks) and Tamba Hali (2 tackles, 2 sacks) were both outstanding as they kept the pressure on Vikings’ QB Kelly Holcomb all game long.  The Vikings finished up rushing for 123 yards on 29 carries (4.2 ypc) and they completed 14 of 29 passes for 129 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270923012

Veteran QB Damon Huard is off to a rough start this season as he has completed 41 of 61 passes (67.2%) for 343 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 interceptions (66.5 QB Rating).  The offensive line has not been doing Huard any favors as he has been sacked 7 times this season already.  Also, remember Huard was injured late in the pre-season and Larry Johnson also got a late start which has thrown the Chiefs offense off early this season.  The Chiefs should stick with Huard a while longer because Brodie Croyle is not ready based on his play in the pre-season.  I know he relieved Huard last week and completed all 4 of his pass attempts for 55 yards but that was in garbage time.  Starting a game is much different as teams gameplan for you and I don’t think Croyle is ready for that yet.

The NFL has cut down Jared Allen’s suspension from 4 games to 2 and he will be available this weekend against the Vikings.  This is huge for the Chiefs as Jimmy Wilkerson (3 tackles) just wasn’t getting the job done for the Chiefs in Allen’s spot at DE.  Allen will immediately make the Chiefs’ defense better starting this weekend agains the Vikings.  He played in all 16 games last season for the Chiefs and he made 77 tackles, had 7.5 sacks, defensed 10 passes, had 1 interception, forced 3 fumbles and recovered an amazing 6 fumbles.