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

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

The Kansas City Chiefs (1-7) will have a great opportunity to get their second win of the year against the Oakland Raiders (2-6) on Sunday.  They will be without Larry Johnson, who was dismissed from the team.  That means Kolby Smith and Jamaal Charles will most likely share carries.  Smith may even be the starter even though last week was his first action of the season.  The Raiders are giving up 161 rushing yards per game though, so both Smith and Charles could have big days.  Matt Cassel had a good game last week against the Jaguars, going for two touchdowns and 262 yards on 23/39 passes.  If Cassel has a similar game the Chiefs should win.

The Chiefs’ defense doesn’t need to worry too much about the Raiders’ passing game, and they should look to get some turnovers off of JaMarcus Russell.  Russell has been terrible for the Raiders this year and has thrown 9 interceptions, compared to only 2 touchdowns.  He has a huge arm though, so the Chiefs need to make sure they don’t get beat and they should be fine in their pass defense.  Darren McFadden is expected to return for the Raiders in this one, so he gives the Raiders’ backfield a more explosive option.  I’m not sure how many carries they will give him though, so the Chiefs should be ready for Justin Fargas and Michael Bush.  The Chiefs have the better offense, so I am going to go with them in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Kansas City Chiefs 24, Oakland Raiders 20

The Kansas City Chiefs are well rested coming off their bye week.  But they weren’t with controversy last week as they suspended Larry Johnson for this game.  Too bad for him because the Chiefs will likely come out running this week against the Jaguars.  Jamaal Charles is a very talented running back and he should do some damage against the Jags’ D which is allowing 128.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  This also could be the week that Matt Cassel truly breaks out for the Chiefs.  He has been sacked 27 times already this season but the Jags only have 5 sacks this year.  Dwayne Bowe, Bobby Wade and the newly acquired Chris Chambers should all be really active in this game.

The Jaguars will likely come out running with Maurice Jones-Drew against a very soft Chiefs’ run D which is allowing 131.0 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  The Chiefs only have 9 sacks this season so David Garrard should have plenty of time to throw the ball.  Mike Sims-Walker, Torry Holt, Mike Thomas and Mercedes Lewis should all be effective against a Chiefs’ D that is allowing 252.1 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 30, CHIEFS 27

The Kansas City Chiefs (1-5) are coming off their first win of the year against the Washington Redskins and are looking to ride that momentum into an upset win over the San Diego Chargers (2-3).  The Chargers are a much more talented team than their record shows, but things have not looked good for them lately and are coming off two straight losses.  The Chiefs’ defense is capable of keeping them in the game, but the offense will need to hold up their end of the bargain.  They will definitely need to put up more than 16.3 points they are averaging or they could get blown out.  The Chargers defense struggles at stopping the run, giving up 141 rushing yards per game, so Larry Johnson should get the Chiefs’ offense going.  The Chargers defense gives up over 27 points per game, so if the Chiefs’ offense comes to play they could get their second win of the year.

The Chargers offense is stacked, so the Chiefs defense will have a big challenge Sunday.  Although the Chargers running game has not been very good this year, I think they will be very effective against the Chiefs poor run-defense.  LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles are still a dangerous combo, and with the Chiefs giving up over 130 rushing yards per game they could rack up a ton of yards.  Then they also have Phillip Rivers and the Chargers’ passing game to deal with.  They are getting 284 passing yards per game and Rivers is an All-Pro quarterback, so I don’t think the Chiefs defense will be able to contain the talented Chargers’ offense.  I think the Chiefs will keep it close in the first half but wont be able to keep up for the full 60 minutes, so I see the Chargers winning pretty easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Kansas City Chiefs 17, San Diego Chargers 34