The Kansas City Chiefs head out to Los Angeles and the friendly confines of So-Fi Stadium for Sunday afternoon’s 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS. Kansas City is one of five remaining undefeated teams at 3-0, while the Chargers currently sit at 2-1. Let’s take a look at this Chiefs-Chargers preview.
Andy Reid vs Jim Harbaugh might not look exactly as we’d originally expected when the season started. You were prepared for Patrick Mahomes against Justin Herbert in another battle of star quarterbacks. Now it may be the Taylor Heinicke show. If Herbert does play, he’ll certainly be limited with an ankle injury. He had an ankle injury he sustained prior to last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then re-aggravated during that game.
The Chiefs sit as 6.5-point divisional road favorites. The over-under is set at just 40 points. The Chiefs hold an 8-2 record straight up over the last 10 games. When it comes to against the spread, however, the teams are tied at 5-5 over that same 10-game span.
Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers Preview and Predictions
Patrick Mahomes Over 254.5 Passing Yards (-119)
The Los Angeles Chargers pass defense hasn’t been elite against subpar quarterbacks to start the season. In Week 1 Gardner Minshew went 25/33 for 257 yards against them. Week 2 was Bryce Young, and well we all know how that went. But in Week 3 Justin Fields, who Chicago tossed in the trash because they didn’t believe in his passing ability, looked very comfortable throwing 25/32 for 245 yards.
The Chargers will want to slow this game down especially if Herbert doesn’t play, but will they be able to is the big question. The Chiefs, while 3-0 and the winners of the last two Super Bowls are still trying to figure out their offense. Mahomes should throw plenty, even if it’s just little dump-offs to Kareem Hunt and he gets antiquated back into the offense.
Patrick Mahomes has been the King of the West since joining Chiefs Kingdom 👑 pic.twitter.com/LbbMZlvjiw
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 27, 2024
Kansas City Chiefs -6.5 (-125)
If Herbert plays or doesn’t play, this line seems a little silly. The Chiefs haven’t been the most impressive team through three weeks beating the Bengals by only one point and Falcons by five. That doesn’t matter, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers stunned the Chargers last week beating them by 10. Something the Chiefs should be able to match pretty easily. These teams have played close games splitting that ATS record over 10 games. Harbaugh is a good coach and this should turn into a fun rivalry over the years, but a healthy Mahomes against an injured Herbert or Heinicke. Along with Andy Reid over Jim Harbaugh still implementing his systems, give me the Chiefs in this one.
