KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It’s no secret how the Kansas City Chiefs are winning these days. Even Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has noticed it.
“They stuck together and found ways,” he said. “They went through awful injuries at the start of their season. They were down in Indy 24-7 and came back and won that one. They beat Minnesota at home, then went to Oakland, obviously, and shut them out — had six turnovers.”
Yes, the Chiefs are riding a modest three-game winning streak, but they’re not doing it with a dominating ground game like last year. They’re not winning with a flashy offense or bruise-inducing defense. They’ve been opportunistic, simple as that, and somehow it’s worked.
“We’ve got the ship turned around right now. But as quick as you can win in this league, that’s how quick you can lose,” linebacker D.J. Johnson said. “Everything is better when you win.”
The Chiefs have recovered from a miserable 0-3 start and injuries to starters Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles to even their record. With a win over San Diego on Monday night, Kansas City can move into a tie atop the AFC West with the Chargers and the Oakland Raiders.
“They haven’t lost since we played them,” Rivers said. “It’s going to be a big-time game.”
Who would have thought that a few weeks back?
Kansas City dropped its first two games in lopsided fashion, and went to San Diego (4-2) trying to figure out things. Some fans were already talking about tanking the rest of season so the team could draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. Todd Haley was on the hot seat barely eight months after he was a trendy pick for coach of the year awards.
The Chiefs played the Chargers to the final possession in a 20-17 defeat, but it turned out to be a watershed moment for the defending division champions.
Kansas City’s offense found a dink-and-dunk style that managed to move the ball just enough to score some points, despite having lost one of the league’s best running backs in Charles. The defense realized it would have to force turnovers to win, and began making up for the loss of Berry in the secondary by cherry-picking interceptions.
Rivers threw two of them that day, and Raiders quarterbacks combined to throw six last week.
“Three weeks ago when we played them, they didn’t even win a game,” Chargers linebacker Takeo Spikes said. “This game is all about confidence, what you do from week to week. It’s always different. Every situation is different, every circumstance is different. That’s the beauty of it.”
Spikes insists the Chargers’ confidence isn’t failing, either.
San Diego is coming off a 27-21 road loss to the New York Jets in which it blew an 11-point halftime lead, had two interceptions in the fourth quarter and botched a two-minute drill.
Much of the blame for the collapse has been heaped on the shoulders of Rivers, who is off to one of the worst starts in his Pro Bowl career. He was 16 of 32 for 179 yards with a touchdown and the two second-half picks against the Jets, and his passer rating is just 82.3 through six games.
He’s thrown seven touchdown passes to go with nine interceptions; by comparison, Rivers threw for 12 touchdowns in the first six games last season, and 13 picks the entire year.
“He’s a really good quarterback, and he’s extremely, extremely dangerous,” Haley insisted. “He has a ton of wins under his belt, which is how I like to evaluate quarterbacks.”
There’s the rub: During his terrific start last season, Rivers had the Chargers sitting 2-4 after six games. San Diego is 4-2 this year despite the struggles of the star quarterback.
Norv Turner said he wasn’t going to dwell much on the fiasco in New York, believing his team had moved past it the moment the players stepped on the plane back west.
Turner knew his team missed a big opportunity to put some ground between itself and the rest of the division, especially after a 3-3 mark against the AFC West last year wasn’t good enough. And now, a loss means the Chargers will be tied with the Chiefs and the Raiders, who have the week off.
“I thought they came back with a real sense of urgency, and focus, and we went right back to work on Kansas City,” Turner said. “It’s a division game, and I think our guys are excited about a Monday night game. It’s a great place to play, and it’s also a very difficult place to play.”
The teams also met on Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium a year ago. That was the season opener for both teams, and the Chiefs’ 21-14 victory started a charmed run that eventually resulted in a stunning AFC West championship.
Might another Monday night matchup, on Halloween no less, send them off and running again? Or will it allow the Chargers to prove they’re the class of the division?
“We expect their best and they’re going to get ours,” Rivers said. “Every team in this league is capable. We’re in the midst of a good start, a 4-2 start. We’re not pleased with last week, but we can’t change it. But we do have something we can do about this Monday.”
SAN DIEGO (4-2)
At KANSAS CITY (3-3)
Monday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
OPENING LINE — Chargers by 3½
RECORD VS. SPREAD — San Diego 2-4; Kansas City 4-2
SERIES RECORD — Tied 51-51-1
LAST MEETING — Chargers beat Chiefs 20-17, Sept. 25, 2011
LAST WEEK — Chargers lost to Jets 27-21; Chiefs beat Raiders 28-0
CHARGERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (13), PASS (7)
CHARGERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (5), RUSH (21), PASS (3)
CHIEFS OFFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (7), PASS (30)
CHIEFS DEFENSE — OVERALL (18), RUSH (25), PASS (17)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Chargers and Chiefs have played 103 times, and are tied with 51 wins each along with one tie. Home team has won 22 of last 31 meetings. ... Chiefs beat Chargers 21-14 on Monday night in last season’s opener at Arrowhead Stadium. Dexter McCluster had 94-yard punt return touchdown to set tone in game. ... Chiefs trying to win four straight games for first time since 2004. ... Kansas City committed 10 turnovers in its first three games, including 20-17 loss to San Diego. Chiefs have turned it over twice in three straight wins. ... Chargers K Nick Novak has converted all 11 FG attempts after Nate Kaeding was lost to season-ending injury in Week 1. Novak spent time with Chiefs in 2008. ... Chargers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky and assistant secondary coach Cris Dishman played for Kansas City. ... Chiefs 5-1-1 on Halloween. ... San Diego QB Philip Rivers leads AFC West with 1,715 yards passing, despite season-low 179 yards last week against Jets. ... Chargers among four teams (Dallas, Houston and Pittsburgh) to rank in top 10 in NFL in total offense and defense. ... This will be San Diego’s third straight road game, it’s longest stretch since 2003. ... San Diego coach Norv Turner needs one more win to move past Buddy Parker for 34th on the NFL’s career list with 108. John Madden would be next with 112 wins.
