The Kansas City Chiefs showed signs of life last weekend against the Chargers.  Will they be able to keep the momentum going this weekend?  Only time will tell.  The Vikings have been leading at the half in every game this year before melting down in the second half.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs would love to get a running game going with Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster, but it’s not going to be easy.  The Vikings are only giving up 67.3 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry so far this year as they have a very solid front seven on D.  The Vikings have had trouble in the secondary as they are allowing 299.3 yards passing per game so far this year, but it’s doubtful that the Chiefs will be able to move the ball in the air consistently.  The Vikings are going to likely double Dwayne Bowe and dare the Chiefs to beat them through the air by throwing to the rest of the lousy receivers on the team.  The Chiefs are going to have to find a way to protect Matt Cassel from DE Jared Allen (4.5 sacks) and the rest of the Vikings’ D.

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Chiefs are giving up 123.0 yards rushing per game but only 3.7 yards per carry so far this year.  They are going to have to gang up on Adrian Peterson and force the Vikings to try to beat them through the air.  The Chiefs are giving up 260.3 yards per game so far this year, but the Vikings don’t have many weapons in the passing game.  I don’t see Donovan McNabb waking up this Sunday Morning with a full tank of gas all of a sudden.

PREDICTION: VIKINGS 23, CHIEFS 17

The Chiefs have re-signed 25-year old TE Jake O’Connell.  He has played in 1 game for the Chiefs already this year and he has caught 1 pass for 15 yards.  O’Connell has now played in 20 games in his first three years in the NFL (all with the Chiefs) and he has caught 6 passes for 53 yards (8.8 avg).  The Chiefs released 34-year old TE Anthony Becht to make room on the roster for Jake O’Connell.  Becht played in 2 games for the Chiefs this year but he didn’t catch any passes.

27-year old WR Dwayne Bowe is off to a solid start despite constant double teams as opposing defenses are scared of no one but him right now.  He has caught 11 passes for 185 yards (16.8 avg) with 1 TD grab in the Chiefs’ first three games of this year.  Bowe played in 59 games in his first four years with the Chiefs (through 2010) and he caught 275 passes for 3,768 yards (13.7 avg) with 31 TD grabs.  The Chiefs really need rookie Doug Baldwin to get healed up and on the field to help loosen the coverage on Bowe a little bit.

The Chiefs finally showed some signs of life for the Chargers in this game.  Matt Cassel was efficient as he completed 17 of 24 passes for 176 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Dexter McCluster led the way on the ground for the Chiefs in this game with 45 yards rushing on 9 carries (5.0 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 17 yards (3.4 avg).  Thomas Jones pitched in with 31 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.2 ypc).  WR Dwayne Bowe (4 rec, 67 yards, TD), Steve Breaston (3 rec, 55 yards) and TE Leonard Pope (3 rec, 32 yards, TD) led the way for the Chiefs in the passing game.  The Chiefs finished up with 81  yards rushing on 27 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 24 passes (70.8 avg) for 171 yards as they had possession of the ball for 25:17.

The defense gave up a lot of yards but they also made some big plays to keep this game close.  LB Jovan Belcher (10 tackles), safety Donald Washington (8 tackles) and CB Brandon Flowers (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception that he returned 43 yards) led the way for the Chiefs in this game.  Safety Kendrick Lewis pitched in with 3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception that he returned 50 yards.  The Chargers finished up with 117 yards rushing on 30 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 38 passes (63.2%) for 258 yards.  The Chiefs are now 0-3 on the year.

This is a bad matchup for the Chiefs.  They somehow split with the Chargers last year despite getting outyarded 823-264!  In the matchup in San Diego last year, the Chargers won 31-0 and they held the Chiefs to 67 total yards of offense!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs are likely going to try to run the ball a lot in this game with Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster working against a Chargers’ D that is allowing 126.5 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry.  The Chiefs have to run the ball well if they are going to have any chance of being competitive in this game.  Matt Cassel will try to work in a passing game for the Chiefs off play action.  Chargers’ cornerback Quentin Jammer held Dwayne Bowe to 2 catches for 16 yards (8.0 avg) last season.  The Chiefs will have to get other WRs and TEs involved in the passing game to try to open up some things for Bowe down the field.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers are going to come out throwing the ball this Sunday.  If the Chiefs can’t get to Philip Rivers (they have only 1 sack this year), then it’s going to be a very long day.  The Chargers are going to throw the ball down the field to Vincent Jackson and I think TE Antonio Gates is going to get a lot of passes coming his way this Sunday.  RBs Ryan Mathews (244 total yards) and Mike Tolbert (176 total yards) are both a big part of the running and passing offense for the Chargers, so the linebackers of the Chiefs need to step up this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 34, CHIEFS 10

The Chiefs need 29-year old QB Matt Cassel to step up and soon!  Cassel has started both of the Chiefs’ games at QB so far this year and he has completed 37 of 58 passes (63.8%) for 252 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (50.4 QB Rating).  The Chiefs don’t really have many alternatives at QB as Tyler Palko and rookie Ricky Stanzi would likely both be overmatched right now.  Cassel needs to get back to the QB he was last season when he turned in a great year.

With Jamaal Charles out for the season, the Chiefs need 33-year old Thomas Jones and 23-year old Dexter McCluster to step up.  Jones will likely get about 2/3 of the carries in the running game going forward.  He has played in both of the Chiefs’ games so far and he has carried the ball 14 times for 43 yards (3.1 ypc).  Jones is a tough guy and he should do a solid job for the Chiefs.  Dexter McCluster doesn’t have the build to carry a heavy workload running the ball.  He has played in both of the Chiefs’ games so far and he has carried the ball 12 times for 93 yards (7.8 ypc).  He has also caught 9 passes for 23 yards (2.6 avg) this year.  Jones and McCluster are plenty capable of giving the Chiefs a solid running game going forward, but make no mistake…..they are going to miss Charles’ big play ability in the running game.

The Chiefs have lost 24-year old RB Jamaal Charles for the rest of the year due to a torn ACL.  Charles played in 2 games for the Chiefs this year and he carried the ball 12 times for 83 yards (6.9 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 9 yards (1.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Charles has now played in 49 games in his first four years with the Chiefs and he has carried the ball 499 times for 3,027 yards (6.1 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He has also caught 117 passes for 1,046 yards (8.9 avg) with 6 TD grabs for the Chiefs.  This is a huge loss for the Chiefs as Charles was by far the best RB on the roster.

The Chiefs probably thought that things couldn’t get any worse after getting throttled by the Bills last weekend, but they were wrong.  The Chiefs looked like a J.V. high school team taking on an NFL team yesterday!  Matt Cassel was awful once again yesterday as he completed 15 of 22 passes for 133 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs.  He also lost a fumble.  Tyler Palko threw one incomplete pass for the Chiefs yesterday.  Dexter McCluster led the way on the ground for the Chiefs in this game with 51 yards rushing on 8 carries (6.4 ypc).  He also caught 4 passes for -2 yards (-0.5 ypc) and he lost a fumble.  Thomas Jones pitched in with 40 yards rushing on 12 carries (3.3 ypc) in this game.  Jamaal Charles carried the ball 2 times for 27 yards (13.5 ypc) for the Chiefs before blowing out his ACL.  He will miss the rest of the season.  Dwayne Bowe led the way in the passing game for the Chiefs as he caught 5 passes for 101 yards (20.2 avg) yesterday.  The Chiefs finished up with 151 yards rushing on 29 carries (5.2 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 23 passes (65.2%) for 116 yards as they had possession of the ball for 27:36.

The Chiefs D was solid against the run but awful against the pass yesterday.  Safeties Jon McGraw (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception) and Sabby Piscitelli (8 tackles) led the way for the Chiefs D in this game.  OLB Tamba Hali had 6 tackles and 4 QB hits in this game.  The Lions rushed for 89 yards on 30 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 40 passes (60%) for 322 yards.  The Chiefs are now a very dismal 0-2 on the season.

The Chiefs got ambushed at home last weekend by the Bills and they will face another tough challenge this Sunday at Ford Field against the upstart Detroit Lions.  The Lions have a much better team than the Bills do, so the Chiefs are going to have to really step up to keep this game competitive.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs would like to get back to running the football with Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster and Thomas Jones this weekend.  To do that though, the interior of the offensive line is going to have to win battles against DTs Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams and that is not going to be easy.  The Lions also have very athletic linebackers who get to the RBs as the Buccaneers could only muster 56 yards rushing on 16 carries (3.5 ypc) last weekend.  If the Chiefs can keep Matt Cassel upright, he could have success throwing the ball as the Bucs threw for 259 yards against the Lions last weekend.  WRs Steve Breaston and Dwayne Bowe combined to only catch 4 passes for 43 yards (10.8 avg) last weekend.  If that happens again, the Chiefs are going to be in deep, deep trouble this weekend.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Chiefs have a lot to worry about this weekend.  Matt Stafford is one of he best young QBs in the NFL and they will have to get a good rush on him, or he’s going to pick apart the secondary just like Ryan Fitzpatrick did last weekend.  WRs Calvin Johnson & Nate Burleson are going to give CBs Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr fits this Sunday.  The Lions also like to throw to TEs Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler which is going to put a lot of pressure on safeties Kendrick Lewis and Jon McGraw.  Jahvid Best is really fast but he goes down pretty easy.  He will be more of a problem catching passes out of the backfield.

PREDICTION:  LIONS 27, CHIEFS 16