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.

The Chiefs will be without WR Eddie Kennison for several weeks with a partially torn hamstring.  He hasn’t caught a pass yet this season and he carried the ball 1 time for 5 yards.  The Chiefs desperately need rookie WR Dwyane Bowe to step up or the Chiefs passing game will be poor all season long.  Bowe has caught 5 passes for 64 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD reception this season.

Bad offense and coaching did the Chiefs in on Sunday afternoon.  The bad coaching was the fact that the Chiefs kept kicking the football to Devin Hester who returned 5 punts for 143 yards (28.6 avg) including one return for a 73-yard TD.  It’s a shame that Edwards was dumb enough to challenge Hester because the Chiefs’ defense played a good game.  The linebackers were all outstanding for the Chiefs yesterday.  Napoleon Harris led the way for the Chiefs’ defense with 12 tackles, a sack and a interception.  Donnie Edwards (9 tackles, interception) and Derrick Johnson (7 tackles, 2 sacks) were also flying all over the football field.  The Chiefs held the Bears to 107 yards rushing on 29 carries (3.7 ypc) and the Bears completed 20 of 34 passes for 132 yards.

The “offense” was pretty dreadful again.  Damon Huard started the game and he completed 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Brodie Croyle relieved Huard late in the game and he completed all four of his pass attempts for 55 yards.  Larry Johnson couldn’t find much running room against the Bears’ stern defense as he rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries (3.4 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 32 yards (10.7 avg).  Michael Bennett also had a rough game as he carried the ball 7 times for 14 yards (2.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg).  WR Jeff Webb led the way in the passing game for the Chiefs as he caught 4 passes for 59 yards (14.8 avg).  Tony Gonzalez (4 rec, 43 yards) and fullback Kris Wilson (4 rec, 34 yards) were handing the short stuff in the passing game.  Rookie WR Dwyane Bowe caught 2 passes for 22 yards and a TD.  The Chiefs finished the game with 70 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 23 of 32 passes for 211 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270916003

Both of these teams got beat up last week.  The Chiefs got thumped 20-3 by the TEXANS in Houston while the Bears got smacked around 14-3 by the Chargers in San Diego.  I can already hear the excuses about how the offense of the Chiefs didn’t play well because Larry Johnson wasn’t a 100% ready to go.  Well it will be interesting to hear the excuse this week when the Chiefs run up against a defense that held the Chargers to 77 yards on 36 carries (2.1 ypc) last weekend.  To have any chance at an upset this week the Chiefs will have to throw the football against the Bears.  With WR Eddie Kennison out for this weeks game the Chiefs need rookie Dwyane Bowe to hold onto the football because he might be able to make some plays this week.  Also, Damon Huard must get the football to Tony Gonzalez (5 rec, 28 yards) as this is the Chiefs’ biggest mis-match on the field vs. the Bears safeties.

The Bears need to take the insults the Chargers threw at them as use them as motivation.  The Chargers called QB Rex Grossman a “Mental Midget” and they also labeled RB Cedric Benson as “Super Soft”!  The Bears will likely be in a bad mood when they take Soldier Field on Sunday and the Chiefs will likely pay for what the Chargers said about the Bears.  Look for the Bears to try to establish a running game this week behind Benson (42 rushing yards) and Adrina Peterson (38 yards rushing).  The Chiefs have an active set of veteran linebackers who will be out to strip the ball against Benson and Peterson who each lost a fumble last week against the Chargers.  Look for the Bears to attack the Chiefs deep with Bernard Berrian who has emerged as the best receiver on the Bears roster.  The secret weapon this week however will be TE Desmond Clark who will likely be able to get open down the field against the young safeties of the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  What a difference a week will make for the Bears.  Look for them to shut down the Chiefs running game and for the “good” Rex Grossman to make an appearance at Soldier Field this weekend.  Look for the Bears to win this game easy but they might not cover the gigantic 12.5 pointspread.

The Chiefs have seen enough of Justin Medlock so they cut him.  He went 1 for 2 yesterday on field goals and he was 3 of 6 in the pre-season.  The Chiefs have signed Dave Rayner who lost his job in Green Bay to rookie Mason Crosby.  Rayner has played in 30 NFL games for the Colts and Packers and he is 26 for 36 (72.2%) on field goals and he has made 31 of 32 extra points.

The Kansas City Chiefs laid an egg against the Texans as they played just as poor as in the pre-season.  Damon Huard looked rusty as he completed 22 of 33 passes for 168 yards with 2 interceptions.  Larry Johnson had a limited workload as he carried the ball 10 times for 43 yards (4.3 ypc) and he also caught 7 passes for 44 yards (6.3 avg).  Michael Bennett looked good in relief of Johnson with 5 carries for 24 yards (4.8 ypc).  Samie Parker (4 rec, 48 yards), Dwyane Bowe (3 rec, 42 yards) and TE Tony Gonzalez all pitched in on the passing game.  The Chiefs finished up with 72 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.2 ypc).  They also completed 22 of 33 passes for 147 yards.

The Chiefs defense just didn’t play too well today against the Texans who pretty much did whatever they wanted.  The Texans rushed for 109 yards on 31 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 22 passes for 206 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270909034