The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers both are relying on differing approaches to handle the altitude in Mexico City.
The Chargers traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado and trained at the Air Force Academy for four days ahead of the game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs stayed in Kansas City, opting for a regular routine, including extra rest and hydration before traveling to Mexico City. Each choice will be heavily criticized depending on the outcome of the game, yet we can already look to one area where the Chiefs might be impacted by the thin air at Estadio Azteca.
Injuries have been a big story for Kansas City this season, and lately, the injury bug has hit the defensive line. Starting defensive end Alex Okafor won’t play this week with a high ankle sprain. Sack leader Emmanuel Ogbah tore his pec against the Titans in Week 10, and the Chiefs have yet to send him to injured reserve, but he’s been ruled out for the game.
That means the Chiefs will have just two players at the defensive end position available for this game in Frank Clark and Tanoh Kpassagnon. Clark has dealt with what he’s described as a pinched nerve in his neck throughout the season. He claims to be healthy now, but his performance hasn’t yet indicated that.
As the Chiefs have dealt with these injuries over the past few weeks, defensive tackle Chris Jones has stepped in and played some at the defensive end position. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo expects that to continue in Week 11 and beyond.
“Yeah, it will be a little back and forth,” Spagnuolo said of Jones’ role on Friday. “He’ll probably end up playing both for us now.”
When the Chiefs faced the Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Week 7, no defensive end played more than 76% of the defensive snaps. Fatigue and the altitude played an influence in that, so we should expect the same against the Chargers in Week 11. The only difference is that they don’t have as many bodies to throw at the issue. Both Okafor and Ogbah were available for that Week 7 game.
The Chiefs will likely rely on a three-player split between Clark, Kpassagnon and Jones at the defensive end position. There’s an off chance that Joey Ivie plays some rush end during dime defensive packages. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some more 3-3-5 nickel packages from Spagnuolo’s defense over the course of the game.
Altitude issues should also influence the rotation along the interior defensive line with Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders seeing a healthy dose of action, but players like Joey Ivie or perhaps Mike Pennel (if he’s active) rotating in. Keeping bodies fresh along the interior will be quite important if they play four down linemen, especially if Jones is tasked with rotating in at the defensive end position.
In general, expect a healthy rotation from Kansas City up and down the defensive line with injuries and the elevation in mind.