Los Angeles Chargers @

Kansas City Chiefs

Sun, Dec 29
10:00 AM Pacific
Rotation: 125
Odds: Kansas City Chiefs -8.5, Total: 45.5

Game Analysis

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KANSAS CITY (-8.5) vs LA Chargers

Patrick Mahomes is throwing for a yard less per pass play in 3 career games versus the Chargers than his career average because Los Angeles’s defense is well suited to take away Kansas City’s strengths. Tyreek Hill is gaining 2.47 yards per route run (5th) and Travis Kelce leads all tight ends with 1205 receiving yards, but both guys could struggle on Sunday. Casey Hayward is surrendering just 0.65 yards per cover snap (5th) and he will limit Hill on the outside while Desmond King’s speed at nickelback won’t allow Hill to thrive in the middle either. The Chargers have allowed just 6.2 yards per target to opposing tight ends with excellent safety Derwin James in the lineup, which is significantly lower than overall tight end average of 7.5 yards per target. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has only conceded 1 sack all season and he will neutralize edge defender Joey Bosa, 8th in pass rushing efficiency.

Philip Rivers loves to throw to his running backs and Austin Ekeler is gaining 2.85 yards per route run ranking 4th among all players. The Chiefs have struggled defending pass-catchers out of the backfield this year and Ekeler recorded 105 receiving yards when these teams met in Mexico City, but there’s reason to believe Kansas City’s defense could be better this time around. The Chiefs are now playing Ben Niemann at second linebacker and he is has been a half yard per cover snap better than Damien Wilson.

Kansas City has reason to play their starters in this game because they could get a first-round bye if the Patriots lose. Alternatively, the Chiefs could fall to the 4-seed if they lose and the Texans win. Our model favors makes Kansas City a 7.6-point favorite with a predicted total of 46.7 points.

  • Team Stats
  • Game Log
  • Chargers
  • Chiefs
LAC
Offense
Defense



Pass



  • Pass Plays 38.8 31.3
  • Succ Pass Plays 50.5% 48.3%
  • Sack Rate 5.4% 6.2%
  • Int Rate 3.1% 2.5%
  • Deep Pass Rate 21.9% 15.9%
  • Big Pass Yards 41.2% 36.5%
  • NYPP 7.4 6.5



Rush


  • Rush Plays 22.7 27.1
  • RB YPR 3.8 3.8
  • Stuff Rate 26.2% 21.1%
  • Succ Rush Plays 44.0% 49.5%
  • Big Rush Yards 36.6% 34.0%
  • Yards Per Rush 3.7 4.0




Game

  • All Snaps 61.5 58.3
  • Early Down Succ 50.4% 50.0%
  • Succ Rate 48.7% 48.4%
  • Big Yards Rate 39.3% 36.3%
  • Yards Per Play 6.0 5.3
  • Fumble Lost Rate 1.2% 0.3%
  • Time Per Play (sec) 29.8 30.7
  • Run Ratio 36.8% 46.0%
  • Starting Field Pos 26.4 29.3
  • Game Control -1.4 1.4
 
  • Points 21.1 20.9
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