Vinciane Ngomsi’s pick: Chiefs win 38-20

Season record: 7-3

Twitter: @VincianeNgomsi

Last week was a fluke, and the Chiefs certainly learned their lesson. It’s less about playing cute football and more about just finding ways to win. Having a creative force in Patrick Mahomes is great, but Kansas City doesn’t have to show off with every play. The Chargers are a beatable team, especially since they’re riddled with injuries. If Kansas City can just stick to playing football that doesn’t come with a side of the theatrics, the division is theirs.

As for the defense, they’re on notice. I don’t care how great the offense is, allowing an abhorrent amount of points like they have is embarrassing and essentially telling everyone they shouldn’t be taken seriously. For the remaining games of the regular season, the focus should be on ensuring the defense is equipped to theoretically outshine the offense.

Danilo Di Julio’s pick: Chiefs win 41-28

Season record: 6-4

Twitter: @ThunderDan88

Following a frustrating loss, the Kansas City Chiefs should be plenty fired up for their date in Mexico City with the Los Angeles Chargers. Patrick Mahomes returned from injury looking every bit like the reigning MVP. He took a few passes to knock the rust off and then lit up the Titans. Numerous dropped passes, a fumble by Damien Williams and the refs taking a TD off the board resulted in a one-score loss. I won’t go into the defensive failings because I think they leave those behind this week.

I expect the Chiefs WR corps to catch more passes, the RBs to hang onto the football, the defense to tackle better, players to know their assignments such as when to be on the field. Of course, Patrick will be Patrick. The Chiefs get a momentous win and the pundits prognosticating their demise will change directions again and view the Kansas City Chiefs as a top team in the NFL.

Talon Graff’s pick: Chiefs win 34-21

Season record: 6-4

Twitter: @CoachGraff34

This is a really important AFC West matchup that has implications on not only the playoff race but the race for the AFC West title. If the Chargers can defeat the Chiefs, then they will be a meer one game back for first place in the West. With the Raiders playing the winless Bengals on Sunday, they could leap ahead of the Chiefs in the division.

The Chargers and Chiefs have a lot in common it seems. Both are 2-4 in the last six weeks, both are struggling to put a healthy offensive line together, and both lost to the Tennessee Titans on last-second plays. With their matchup taking place in Mexico City on Monday Night Football, there will be plenty of eyes on this game. The last time these two teams faced off, the Chargers stole a one-point win inside Arrowhead on a two-point conversion. Even though that game was nearly a year ago, the Chiefs have not forgotten. While the Chargers might stay relatively close thanks to their defense, Mahomes and the offense will break it open toward the end. Chiefs win and keep the AFC West lead.

Kevin Scott’s pick: Chiefs win 31-30

Season record: 8-2

Twitter: @KevinScottFF

Despite the Chargers’ defense ranking 21 against the pass and 26 against the run per Football Outsiders, they have been pretty effective at preventing teams from scoring points. They held the Texans to 27 points and the Packers to 11 points, and those are the two best offenses they have faced. In addition, their defensive front seems to be improving recently, with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram playing more effectively in the last few games.

This could present big problems for the Chiefs, who have been losing starting offensive linemen left and right. They could really use the return in Week 11 of Eric Fisher and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who would give a huge boost to the front line. Cameron Erving has been exceedingly poor filling in at left tackle; it was when he totally whiffed in protection that Mahomes got hit hard and was knocked into Mitchell Schwartz, injuring him. Even if Fisher and LDT return, they will have their hands full against this strong line.

The Chiefs defense continues to disappoint, letting teams run all over them. Look for Melvin Gordon to have a big game as the Chargers look to copy the blueprint that has worked four times against the Chiefs now: run the ball right at them, over and over.

The Chiefs can win this game if the defensive line and linebackers come to play and give the effort needed to stop the run if the Chiefs’ offense can avoid the constant penalties that wiped out big plays in Week 10. In other words, they must play passionate but intelligent football. If they do, they should win. If they do not, they will lose.

I will bet on the Chiefs feeling the heat to get a win in this game, but I am torn and this game could go either way.