Chargers at Chiefs - Week 15 - Record: 8-6

5:08 PST.

I'm writing a bit right before the game, but to stay true to my commitment as I do most times, I'm not writing again here again until after the game. But I can't help but put down what I think is the key to this one, a game everyone is justifiably calling a playoff game.

Yes, we have a chance with help to get a playoff spot if we lose this one, but it'd be best if we won today. We win out and get the division, we get a first playoff game at home.

A key could be how our offensive line gets Kareem Hunt untracked or protects Alex Smith. A major key could be how much Alex Smith doesn't do too much dingleberry failing to find receivers down the field. There are a number of areas where the Chiefs need to be the team they truly could be, and their offense is facing a really stiff challenge in a Chargers defense that is very good.

But the key?

Eighth play of actual game

Our pass rush.

Last week our pass rush showed up against the Raiders, but they can be shaky out there. Yes we have Justin Houston, but we simply have not been using him effectively enough to put pressure on the defense. Yes we have Tamba Hali but it is clear he is a shell of his once dominant self. Yes we have Chris Jones but if a sharp industrious offensive lineman can take him down then... then...

Philip Rivers will have a field day.

Because the Chargers the last couple of years have not been as strong as they are now and because they've been plagued by so many injuries in the most recent games we've had with them, we have not seen the Philip Rivers who is notorious for shredding the Chiefs. His games against us when this team has been at their best are painful, painful memories.

Right now the Chargers are hitting on all cylinders, they are very healthy, and Philip Rivers has found his groove. If we don't employ a very effective pass rush tonight to shake, rattle, and sack him often enough, fughedabouddit.

This Chiefs team can do it. They can pull out a close one with all the things they do well, they can. But if they don't, then really, let's face it, they aren't for real enough to be playoff contenders.

Now, on to the game. What actually happens out there...

8:39 PST.

Well we did it. We beat a good Chargers team convincingly today, mostly with an offensive onslaught and a defensive shutout after they scored shortly after the start of the second half. At that time it looked like they would make it hard, put up some numbers and beat us, but after Philip Rivers hit Antonio Gates with a touchdown pass to make it 13-10 them, it was all us.

I'm peeking at the postgame NFL Network stuff, and the guy just said we had never won consecutive division titles. Wow. But yep, that's true, we've not won very many division titles at all. We're still only 8-6, and we still need to win at least one more to clinch it -- I dunno maybe this is a good thing, keeping us focused and playing hard.

The men of the day were Kareem Hunt and his offensive linemen. Hunt had to have had something like 150 yards rushing, he was juking and slipping and zagging and bursting all night long. The O-line was stout, not only giving Hunt room to roam but giving Alex Smith very nice protection. I honestly don't think Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram had a single sack on the evening. If either did it didn't mean much.

We turned it on in the second half when we needed to. The first half wasn't something to shout about. Our first time in the red zone we again needed to kick a field goal. Fortunately a bit earlier we got a sweet long pass from Alex Smith to a streaking Tyreek down the sideline for our first touchdown.

Harrison Butker missed a 51-yarder at the end of the first half, but later in the second half he made one -- that was cool.

Marcus Peters came back in a big way, getting two picks, one of which he persistently ran it back all the way down inside the 10-yard line so it'd be easier for us to score. How many times do D-backs make a pick then give up running much farther than they could? Peters also had an amazing open-field tackle for a clutch 3rd down stop and another of his patented strips causing a fumble -- I have to think the suspension was a good thing to get him refocused. And dang was he focused today. He had a couple fine pass defenses as well.

And what about the key I mentioned at the beginning of the game? Our pass rush?

How did Philip Rivers do?

I have to say we did contain him exceptionally well. We had a couple key sacks, Eric Murray with a terrific safety blitz sack at the beginning of the game, and Chris Jones with one to help make a series stop later. One of Rivers' picks was caused by a D-lineman smacking his arm as he threw. We harried Rivers all night -- it really looked like we won the defensive side of the line play and made it difficult for Rivers to get untracked. We had three interceptions and missed a couple more. There was even more: towards the end of the game the announcers said Rivers did not have a single pass completion of over 20 yards to a wide receiver or tight end.

Dang.

Which team is this Chiefs team?

Will tonight's team be the team that runs the table and wins the Super Bowl like we thought they would earlier?

They'd better be!
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8:33 PST Sunday morning

I had to add these notes thinking about a couple more things from last night's game, and sure, even though I should be putting these in a totally new blog post since it's the following day, I'm just going to tag them on to this post.

One of the reasons we did beat the Chargers did have something to do with a mention in my key to the game, and that had to do with the health of the players. One of the reasons Los Angeles had been doing so well was because they'd been reasonably healthy. Before the game the only player who was questionable was Casey Hayward, yet even he admitted Tyreek Hill's long touchdown against him was not because of the injury but because of his misplay on the route.

Thing is, Chargers were going down left and right last night. Their fine middle linebacker Denzel Perryman went out, and I can't help but think this helped Kareem Hunt a lot -- taking nothing away from him or our O-line. I didn't see until this morning that Keenan Allen had been ailing too -- Rivers and Allen are one of the best QB-WR combos in the NFL. Taking nothing away from our pass rush or D-back play, but that had to have helped too.

Next week we face a Dolphins team that looked really good last week against the Patriots. This has already turned into a year when again those AFC East teams just have our number. Losing to the Bills and Jets? Are you kidding me?

Anyway, another thing back to the Chargers. It was mentioned that this was our eighth win in a row against the Chargers. Doesn't it seem like only yesterday when we lost to the Chargers in a meaningless final game of the 2013 season? We were already in the playoffs anyway, but I can still remember listening to the terrible Chargers announcer Josh Lewin's call of Ryan Succop's missed field goal in regulation that helped get the Chargers the win that day, how awful it was because Lewin made it personal. Good announcers never berate the other team or make fun of them even if they're homers, and Lewin's whole approach was wretched in that respect.

Well, Josh Lewin, I wonder how you're calling Chargers games against the Chiefs now, eight games straight. I've never listened to him in that time because it is too intolerable, but I can't say I didn't hope the Chargers would lose just to make Lewin a bit more humble.

Now yes the Chargers are going to beat us in many games to come sometime in other seasons. And I really have no animosity to the Chargers themselves -- I admire players like Philip Rivers tremendously. If the Chiefs don't do well I honestly want the Chargers to do well -- especially against the Raiders! And maybe Lewin has softened up a bit since then, become more professional. Great. (Point of fact, I just looked it up: Lewin actually had been replaced just this year -- guess it had to do with the move to Los Angeles, or... well...)

But the history of the thing is this. Yes we've beaten the Chargers eight straight times, but do you know what we had been doing with the Chargers just before that winning streak started? We'd been 2-11 against them dating back to September of 2007. Before this nifty winning streak we'd been their doormat for years.

That's sports. That's just what you deal with. Anything can happen between two teams with fine players on each side of the ball, and really, that's what makes it compelling. As much as you have the heartbreak -- and Chiefs fans have had all the heartbreak they could ever want to have -- it's the only reason it is any fun.

Here's to hoping this Chiefs team and its big playmakers can make it really fun in the next several weeks.
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