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The San Diego Chargers (3-9) enter Sunday's contest with the Kansas City Chiefs (7-5) having lost seven of their last eight games, including a 33-3 loss to Kansas City just three weeks ago. The Chargers are 1-4 on the road this season.
Head coach Mike McCoy commented on the quick turnaround with the Chiefs.
"That's the way the game is these days in the division," he said. "Everyone is doing it at some point in time in the year [where] there's a quick turnaround before you play another team, so we're familiar with one another, obviously, the number of times we've played against each other, the coordinators, the head coaches, things like that. Everyone else in the league is doing it also, so it's nothing new."
San Diego lost their last game, 17-3, to the first-place Denver Broncos.
Here's a look at the Chargers coaching staff:
Chargers Coaching Staff | |
Position |
Name |
Head Coach |
Mike McCoy |
Offensive Coordinator |
Frank Reich |
Defensive Coordinator |
John Pagano |
Special Teams Coordinator |
Craig Aukerman |
Despite losing key players to Injured Reserve this season (right guard Johnnie Troutman, running back Branden Oliver, wide receiver Keenan Allen and center Chris Watt), quarterback Philip Rivers has led San Diego to the sixth best offense and fourth best passing offense in the league.
Wide receiver Malcom Floyd (shoulder) returned to action against the Broncos last week. Floyd had 1 catch for 13 yards on 4 targets in the loss.
With WRs Stevie Johnson (neck) and Dontrelle Inman (groin) held out of practice Wednesday due to injury, Floyd may need to play a bigger role for the Chargers Sunday against the Chiefs. To help with the possible vacancies, the Chargers also signed WR Vincent Brown this week.
Among players still active for the Chargers, running back Danny Woodhead has both the most targets (74) and receptions (55).
Rivers has also heavily targeted tight end Antonio Gates, who is in his 13th season with the Chargers. Gates led the team with 2 touchdowns in San Diego's 31-25 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago.
Gates believes that the upcoming game against the Chiefs will be important for the identity of his Chargers moving forward.
"It's an opportunity for guys to – in my opinion, really show what they're about," he said, "really show the characteristics of what this team is made of. More importantly, obviously we're not playing for a playoff berth at this particular point, but playing for this organization and playing for your pride to me, is just as important. So I think collectively, that's something that we're trying to hang our hats on and I'm quite sure we'll do our best and just try to fight – fight together for these last few weeks."
The Chargers are much more likely to pass the ball (504 attempts) than run the ball (285 attempts), but when they do opt to run, it's primarily with with rookie RB Melvin Gordon.
Gordon leads the Chargers with 155 attempts for 565 yards rushing this season, but hasn't recorded a touchdown. The only touchdowns rushing for the Chargers came in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, against whom Woodhead had 2.
Here's a look at the unofficial offensive depth chart for the Chargers:
San Diego Chargers Offensive Depth Chart (Unofficial) | ||||
POS |
FIRST |
SECOND |
THIRD |
THIRD |
WR |
Malcolm Floyd |
Dontrelle Inman |
Javontee Herndon |
|
LT |
King Dunlap |
Chris Hairston |
|
|
LG |
Orlando Franklin |
Kenny Wiggins |
|
|
C |
Trevor Robinson |
J.D. Walton |
|
|
RG |
D.J. Fluker |
Kenny Wiggins |
|
|
RT |
Joe Barksdale |
Tyreek Burwell |
|
|
TE |
Ladarius Green |
John Phillips |
|
|
TE |
Antonio Gates |
David Johnson |
|
|
WR |
Stevie Johnson |
Tyrell Williams |
|
|
QB |
Phillip Rivers |
Kellen Clemens |
|
|
RB |
Melvin Gordon |
Danny Woodhead |
Donald Brown |
|
Here's a look at the Chargers numbers and ranks so far this season on offense:
Offense |
Chiefs |
Chargers |
Net Yards Per Game |
341.3 (23rd) |
380.6 (6th) |
Yards Per Play |
5.58 (11th) |
5.58 (12th) |
Points Per Game |
26.8 (5th) |
20.6 (25th) |
Possession Average |
30:48 (10th) |
30:50 (9th) |
Net Rushing Yards Per Game |
121.3 (7th) |
82.7 (30th) |
Net Passing Yards Per Game |
220.0 (26th) |
297.9 (4th) |
Had Intercepted/Yards |
3/44 |
9/262 |
Sacks Allowed/Yards |
39/-207.0 (T-29th) |
30/-201.0 (22nd) |
Fumbles/Lost |
12/7 |
16/10 |
Third down Pct. |
36.7% (21st) |
43.0% (6th) |
Red Zone TD Pct. |
55.3% (19th) |
61.8% (9th) |
Giveaways |
10 (2nd) |
19 (T-14th) |
The San Diego Chargers give up 370.6 yards per game, ranking them 24th for total defense in the entire league. Based on the same stat, they are 26th (124.6 yards allowed per game) against the run and 21st (246.0 yards allowed per game) against the pass.
The best players on the Chargers defense are safety Eric Weddle and linebackers Melvin Ingram and Manti Te'o. Weddle, a three-time Pro Bowler, leads the Chargers in total tackles with 70.
Ingram leads the Chargers defense with 5.0 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, but the defense as a whole has shown a knack for bringing pressure from all different angles this year. 13 different Chargers players have at least a half a sack on the season. Ingram also leads the team in forced fumbles with 2.
LB Denzel Perryman had the most tackles against the Broncos last week with 10.
*Familiar face: *Cornerback Brandon Flowers spent 2008-13 with the Chiefs. In 87 games with Kansas City, he recorded 17 interceptions and returned 1 for a touchdown. The Chiefs will likely not see Flowers Sunday, as he was carted off with a knee injury in San Diego's game with the Broncos and has yet to practice this week.
Here is a look at the Chargers defensive depth chart:
San Diego Chargers Defensive Depth Chart (Unofficial) | |||
POS |
FIRST |
SECOND |
THIRD |
DE |
Kendall Reyes |
Ricardo Mathews |
|
NT |
Sean Lissemore |
Ryan Carrethers |
|
DT |
Corey Liuget |
Ricardo Mathews |
Damion Square |
OLB |
Melvin Ingram |
Kyle Emanuel |
|
ILB |
Manti Te-o |
Kavell Conner |
Joe Mays |
ILB |
Donald Butler |
Denzel Perryman |
Nick Dzubnar |
OLB |
Jerry Attaochu |
Cordarro Law |
|
CB |
Brandon Flowers |
Steve Williams |
Greg Ducre |
CB |
Jason Verrett |
Patrick Robinson |
Craig Mager |
SS |
Jahleel Addae |
Jimmy Wilson |
Adrian Phillips |
FS |
Eric Weddle |
Darrell Stuckey |
|
Here's a look at the Chargers numbers and ranks so far this season on defense:
Defense |
Chiefs |
Chargers |
Net Yards Per Game |
337.5 (T-10th) |
370.6 (24th) |
Yards Per Play |
5.19 (6th) |
6.15 (30th) |
Points Per Game |
20.0 (T-7th) |
27.0 (29th) |
Net Rushing Yards Per Game |
96.2 (8th) |
124.6 (26th) |
Net Passing Yards Per Game |
241.3 (14th) |
246.0 (21st) |
Intercepted by/Yards |
17/333.0 |
7/106.0 |
Sacks For/Yards |
34/-218.0 (T-5th) |
22/-144.0 (T-24th) |
Opponent Fumbles/Lost |
16/6 |
7/4 |
Third down Pct. |
33.8% (6th) |
39.6% (18th) |
Red Zone TD Pct. |
66.7% (30th) |
47.5% (6th) |
Takeaways |
23 (T-3rd) |
11 (29th) |
Finally, here's a side-by-side comparison of the individual statistical leaders for both teams:
Chiefs |
|
Chargers | ||
Passing Yards | ||||
A. Smith |
2,843 |
|
P. Rivers |
3,713 |
* * |
* * |
* * |
|
|
* * |
* * |
* * |
|
|
Rushing Yards | ||||
C. West |
408 |
|
M. Gordon |
565 |
J. Charles |
364 |
|
D. Woodhead |
255 |
A. Smith |
326 |
|
B. Oliver |
108 |
Receiving Yards | ||||
J. Maclin |
867 |
|
K. Allen |
725 |
T. Kelce |
731 |
|
D. Woodhead |
593 |
A. Wilson |
279 |
|
S. Johnson |
497 |
Points Scored | ||||
C. Santos |
107 |
|
J. Lambo |
81 |
Three Tied |
30 |
|
D. Woodhead |
30 |
T. Kelce |
28 |
|
L. Green |
28 |
Interceptions | ||||
M. Peters |
5 |
|
J. Verrett |
2 |
Five Tied |
2 |
* * |
Five Tied |
1 |
Sacks | ||||
J. Houston |
7.5 |
|
M. Ingram |
5 |
T. Hali |
6.5 |
|
J. Attaochu |
4.5 |
A. Bailey |
4.5 |
|
C. Liuget |
3 |
D. Johnson |
4 |
|
K. Reyes |
2 |
Defensive Tackles | ||||
D. Johnson |
82 |
|
E. Weddle |
67 |
R. Parker |
57 |
|
M. Te'o |
57 |
M. Peters |
50 |
|
M. Ingram |
48 |