The Kansas City Chiefs (3-8) did not have much of a chance on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers (8-3) and they were blown out.  The Chiefs just could not get much going offensively, and they needed to put up a lot of points to keep up with the Chargers.  Matt Cassel threw for only 178 yards on 19/31 attempts, getting 1 touchdown and 1 interception.  The running game was effective, with Jamaal Charles running very well for 93 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries, but he did lose a fumble.  The Chiefs fumbled 4 times and lost 3 of them, so they weren’t helping their cause much.  If the Chiefs didn’t find themselves down by so much, they could have fed the ball to Charles more and he probably would have found more success.

The Chargers offense had a field day with the Chiefs’ defense, racking up 426 total yards.  Philip Rivers sat back in the pocket and threw for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21/28 attempts.  They ran for 94 yards as a team, but it was on 34 carries so the Chiefs did a pretty solid job slowing down their running game.  The Chargers built an early lead though and were up 35-7 early in the 3rd quarter, so the Chiefs were never really in this game.

The Kansas City Chiefs (3-7) have a big challenge Sunday against the San Diego Chargers (7-3) on the road.  Unfortunately for the Cheifs, the Chargers have one of the best passing games in the league and the Chiefs have been giving up over 250 passing yards per game this season.  That means Philip Rivers will probably put up some big numbers in the passing game.  The Chargers’ running game has been very solid lately, with LaDainian Tomlinson running the ball the best he has all season.  The Chiefs will need their best game of the season if they want to beat the explosive Chargers.

The Chiefs offense will have a hard time keeping up with Rivers and the Chargers’ offense.  The Chiefs lost by 30 points earlier in the season to the Chargers, and I am expecting a similar game.  Matt Cassel threw three picks in that game, his worst of the season.  The Chargers don’t have a great defense, but they do a good job in defending the pass and they seem to have Cassel’s number.  The Chargers are likely to build an early lead, so the running game probably wont be relied on too much for the Chiefs.  I’m expecting another blowout win for the Chargers.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Kansas City Chiefs 13, San Diego Chargers 31

The Chiefs made big plays when they had to and that’s why they won this game in a nutshell.  Matt Cassel was very efficient in this game as he completed 15 of 30 passes for 248 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Jamaal Charles was a gamebreaker for the Chiefs in this game as he returned 4 kickoffs for 158 yards (39.5 avg) with a 97-yard TD return.  He also carried the ball 17 times for 58 yards (3.4 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 8 yards (4.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Chris Chambers caught 4 passes for 119 yards (29.8 avg) including a long pass in O.T. that set up the game winning FG.  TE Leonard Pope pitched in with 2 catches for 26 yards (13.0 avg) with a TD.  The Chiefs only had the ball for 22:25 of this game but they still finished up with 282 total yards on offense (68 rushing, 214 passing) today.

The defense didn’t play well today as they gave up a lot of yards but they also made a lot of game altering plays that helped the Chiefs win this game.  LB Demorrio Williams led the way for the Chiefs today with 10 tackles.  Safety Mike Brown pitched in with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  But, it was young DE Andy Studebaker who made the biggest difference for the Chiefs in this game as he had 6 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 2 passed defensed, 1 QB hit and he intercepted 2 passes that he returned for a combined 96 yards which set up short fields for the Chiefs’ offense.  The Steelers finished up with 515 total yards in this game (114 rushing, 401 passing).  The Chiefs are now 3-7 on the season.

I think it’s too early to tell if 27-year old Matt Cassel is the long term answer for the Chiefs at QB.  It’s not like he has a lot of weapons to work with on the offense right now.  He has played in 8 games this season and he has completed 144 of 259 passes (55.6%) for 1,472 yards with 10 TD passes and 6 INTs (75.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 32 times for 126 yards (3.9 ypc) this year.  Cassel proved last season that he could excel if he had help at the skill positions which he doesn’t have right now in K.C.  Last season Cassel played in all 16 games for the Patriots and he completed 327 of 516 passes (63.4%) for 3,693 yards with 21 TD passes and 11 INTs (89.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 73 times for 270 yards (3.7 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  It seems as if Cassel plays as well as he can with the cards that are dealt him.  So if the Chiefs improve at RB, WR and TE in the near future I’m confident that Cassel will do a good job for them.

This is a great rebound game for the Steelers who should be really angry after getting punked on their own field by the Bengals last week.  The Chiefs are allowing 234.2 yards passing per game this season and they only have 12 sacks this season meaning that Ben Roethlisberger should have a lot of time to throw the football.  Roethlisberger might only have to play three quarters this Sunday before getting the rest of the day off.  The Steelers will likely pass to get the lead and then grind it out on the ground with Rashard Mendenhall against a Chiefs’ D that is allowing 141.3 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  I have a feeling that Charlie Batch and maybe even Dennis Dixon will be finishing this game up at QB.

If the Chiefs can give Matt Cassel time to throw the ball on Sunday this might not be the bloodbath that I think it will.  The Steelers are giving up 208.1 yards passing per game so it will be up to guys like Chris Chambers, Mark Bradley, Lance Long and Bobby Wade to step up.  I just don’t see it happening this week as Chiefs’ QBs have been sacked 32 times already this year and the Steelers are coming into this game as a angry bunch.  Jamaal Charles had a breakout game against the Raiders last weekend but the Steelers are only giving up 69.3 yards per game on the ground and 3.4 yards per carry so don’t look for a repeat performance out of him.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 45, CHIEFS 10