Monday Night Football Week 1: Chargers vs. Chiefs Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
In the second game of the Monday Night Football double header, the San Diego Chargers travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs at 10:15PM ET. Let’s breakdown the match.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Chargers 4.5-point favorites over the Chiefs in Week 1. The over/under total for this game has been set at 45.
Chargers Win If:
They can stop Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. The Chiefs have a couple of weapons to hurt teams, but they underachieved last year and then backed that up with an underachieving performance in preseason. Matt Cassel has done nothing to prove that he can be the future leader of Kansas City’s offense, so if San Diego can slow Charles and TJ in the running game, then they should be fine. Philip Rivers will be without Vincent Jackson, but he still has Ryan Mathews, Antonio Gates and Malcolm Floyd to throw to in the passing game. The Chiefs’ secondary is loaded with young talent, but they’re still inexperienced as a whole. So again, stop Charles and Jones and the Bolts will likely stop KC’s offense and can then take advantage of the Chiefs’ defensive weaknesses.
Chiefs Win If:
Cassel can step up and lead the passing game. The Chargers are expected to win the AFC West again, but this isn’t a team without glaring holes on both sides of the ball. If Cassel can protect the football and make some plays in the passing game against a suspect San Diego secondary, then they might be able to build a lead and pound the Bolts with their running game. But it all starts with Cassel – he has to step up, which is something he hasn’t done since arriving in Kansas City. Expect some bumps in the road from him working with new OC Charlie Weis, but if these two can get on the same page then the Chiefs may be able to pull off the upset.
Prediction:
The Chargers opened up on Monday Night Football last year when everyone thought that they would roll over the Raiders on the road and they snuck out a 24-20 win (an easy Oakland cover). This year, the public shouldn’t make the same mistake twice, especially considering that this San Diego team is weaker than the one that entered the season last year. The Chiefs are about as far from a juggernaut as you can get, but they do have enough weapons to stay close to the Chargers at home for four quarters. Their defense might surprise some people this year too, especially with an up-and-coming secondary. I like the Chiefs in this one and feel as though the total is way too high, so I lean towards the under as well.
2010 NFL Free Pick Week 1: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS +4.5 & UNDER 45