Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers prediction, game preview, how to watch: Thursday, December 16
Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers How To Watch
Date: Thursday, December 16
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
How To Watch: FOX/NFL Network
Record: Kansas City (9-4), Los Angeles Chargers (8-5)
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Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers Game Preview
Why Kansas City Will Win
All of the parts are working now.
The Chiefs scored a franchise-historic 48 points in the win over Raiders last week, and Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill had relatively quiet games. The running game was great, but Patrick Mahomes only threw for 240 yards.
It was the defense that showed up with five takeaways as part of the dominant performance, but that’s been the norm. Kansas City has allowed nine points in each of its last three games, and 17 points or fewer in seven of its last eight.
There’s a trickle-down effect.
The offense that was pressing so hard and making so many mistakes early on has been more relaxed and far more careful with the ball.
Los Angeles was air-tight in the win over the Giants, but it turned it over five times in the previous two games. Kansas City has forced 14 takeaways in its last five games.
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Why Los Angeles Chargers Will Win
How did the Chargers do it in the Week 3 30-24 win?
Justin Herbert was great, the defense forced four takeaways, and that was enough. It can’t rely on the turnovers in this, but it can depend on Herbert coming up with another strong performance.
On the edge of the MVP talk, Herbert is not only putting up great overall numbers, but he has figured out how to win games – that wasn’t a thing for the team last year.
In this, he’s got to limit the big mistakes and he needs to rely on the running game. Austin Ekeler might be hurting with an ankle problem, but the Chargers have a decent rotation of backs too pick up the slack.
As good as the Kansas City defense has been, it will give up rushing yards to teams that give it a try.
It’s going to be more about effectiveness than bulk. If the Chargers are averaging close to five yards per carry – not a big ask against the Chiefs – 10 will take care of the rest.
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What’s Going To Happen
It’s the big showcase game for both teams.
Is Kansas City really ready to take over and make the AFC West its own, or can Herbert come up with something special and change up the dynamics of the playoff chase?
It’ll be a little bit of both.
Forget the Cincinnati win, the Chargers don’t force enough mistakes. Worse yet, they’re a disaster on third downs, and Mahomes is about to exploit that in a big way.
There will be one mistake when 15 tries to get too cute by half, but for the most part this will be tough, solid performance thanks to another great day from the D.
And Mahomes will be brilliant when needed to put this away.
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Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers Prediction, Line
Kansas City 26, Los Angeles Chargers 20
Line: Kansas City -3, o/u: 52.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 5
5: “Paper & Glue”
1: “Being Blago”
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