No Walk in the Park

It’s going to be tough for the Chargers to sleep on the Chiefs after their come from behind win over the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Every game on the schedule in the NFL is a big game and this San Diego team is aware of that having heard this song and dance from Head Coach Norv Turner already. “I’ve been coaching in this league a long time in the same division and you start believing some things that have been true. Sometimes you say it and you wonder if it still is true. When you go beat a team like that, sometimes people assume, ‘You went to Kansas City and you should beat them because they’re not very good,’ or ‘You beat Oakland because they aren’t (very good).’ Then you turn around and see Kansas City beat Pittsburgh and Oakland beat Cincinnati, two pretty good football teams and it starts to reconfirm some of the things I believe. Maybe I haven’t lost it completely in terms of understanding completely what this league is all about.”

It’s true; the AFC West represented themselves well in week 11 despite being dogged by the majority of leaguewide pundits as a weak division this year with the only loss coming within the division being the Chargers win over the Broncos. The win by the Chiefs in particular is what has the Chargers attention as it further reiterates the fact that records in this league don’t mean anything on a week to week basis. The opponent on the schedule and the 53 guys on their roster are the only think that should concern the Bolts in their preparation this week in devising a game plan to emerge victorious against the Chiefs. Chargers tackle Marcus McNeill took the words from my mouth saying: “For Pittsburgh to go in there and lose to Kansas City, that’s a real eye opener to everybody in the NFL. It doesn’t matter who you play. You’ve got to come to play. We’re on a little streak right now and we want to keep it going.”

Even though the Bolts have been hot of late winning five in a row after the win over Denver on Sunday, the Chiefs bring their own two game winning streak into this game. A huge key for the Chargers to continuing their winning streak will be continuing a different streak: their two game streak without a turnover. The Chiefs fed off of turnovers in their win against the Steelers winning the battle 3-1 and turning those turnovers into huge momentum shifts. Philip Rivers added his own thoughts on what the Chiefs bring to the table saying: “It really reiterates that this league, each week and each game stands alone. Any team in this league is capable each and every week. It’s a division opponent at home. We’ve got things going. There’s no reason why we won’t be geared up and ready to go.”

Those sentiments are exactly what all fans hope to hear from the team’s leader as coming out flat is a great way to get overwhelmed by an opponent and the Chargers cannot afford to do that against a team with too much talent to be overlooked. Rivers continued on about this week’s upcoming opponent to say: “It says a lot about Kansas City’s continued progress. Their record probably isn’t where they want it, but they’re still battling like crazy. You see what they’ve done the past few weeks. It’ll be what you expect in a division game.” Despite not having many of the familiar faces that Chargers fans have become accustomed to over recent years, the Chiefs are starting to play with a group mentality that should have the Bolts attention. Special teams will again be a focus for San Diego after watching the Steelers give up a kickoff return touchdown on the opening kick of the game they will need to have a huge effort from that unit again this weekend.

Injuries have again reared their head as Jeromey Clary was rolled up on in the 4th quarter of the Broncos game and it looked quite ugly. He will likely miss some time with an ankle injury and his reliever from the Denver game, Brandyn Dombrowski will take his place on the right side of the line. Luis Castillo was a bit knicked up in that contest as well suffering a calf strain and he will likely miss practice time this week. Norv Turner seems optimistic that Castillo will have a legitimate chance to play this week however and that will be a great boost for what has developed into a solid rotation on the defensive line. Some better news on the injury front as after suffering a setback in practice on his surgically repaired ankle, Nick Hardwick will return to practice this week and may be getting closer to returning to full time action.

Although Hardwick is definitely being missed as the anchor of the offensive line, it would be wise to keep him out for a couple of extra weeks with the roll that the Bolts have been on and the Chiefs and Browns in back to back weeks. After those two contests, San Diego faces some stiff competition for the stretch run which will be beneficial in getting their playoff mentality into full swing as they head to Dallas, back home to face Cincinnati, and then back on the road on a short work Christmas Day game visiting a red hot Tennessee team. It probably looks more like Hardwick’s targeted return date will be that week 14 match-up against the Cowboys rather than going too soon and risking another setback to that surgically repaired ankle.

Tags: Brandyn Dombrowski, Cincinnati Bengals, Jeromey Clary, Kansas City Chiefs, Luis Castillo, Marcus McNeill, Nick Hardwick, Norv Turner, Oakland Raiders, Philip Rivers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans