Well, if the results in the first week of NFL action are any indication, the AFC West will be there for the taking. Kansas City looked as bad as a team could look in the opener, losing to the Bills 41-7, and the Chargers finished strong but were unimprisive in beating the Vikings 24-17. The Chargers defense definitely showed some signs of life in this one, and in terms of early season games they are way ahead of schedule.
Still, they looked far from unbeatable. Jump over for a glimpse of what they are saying on the enemies' blogs....
This comes to us via Arrowhead Pride:
The Good
- The Chiefs had one good drive. One!
- TE Leonard Pope had one of his better games as a Chief. Three catches for 24 yards. Yes, this is part of the "Good" category.
- There are no more good things to list.
The Bad
- RB Fred Jackson went over 100 yards against the Chiefs.
- RB Jamaal Charles had just eight carries for the Chiefs -- none in the second half.
- QB Matt Cassel rarely went deep and dumped off pass after pass it seemed.
- The Chiefs as a team only rushed the ball 18 times. Four of those plays came in garbage time (if not more).
The Ugly
- S Eric Berry was injured in the game, It's a knee injury and we're not sure how serious it is.
- QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four touchdowns on the Chiefs. Four!
- Thomas Jones and Ryan Fitzpatrick had the same number of rushing yards: 3.
- Dexter McCluster and Jamaal Charles both fumbled the ball away to the Bills
And this comes to us via Bolts from the Blue:
What a rollercoaster of a game! I'm still unsure if I'm allowed to be angry about the team's slow start, or if a poor first quarter and a half is more a result of the offseason, lockout and influx of new players on the team.
The Chargers scored 17 points on offense and shut out the Vikings on defense in the second half, led by the Antwan Barnes and Takeo Spikes, among others.
Mike Tolbert finished the game as the only Charger to cross the goal line with the ball in his hands, which seems odd. Antonio Gates finished as the team's leading receiver with 74 receiving yards, but Ryan Mathews (who didn't fumble!) showed himself to be the team's best big play threat. He paired a 21 yard run with a 37 yard catch to force the Vikings defense to focus on him whenever he was on the field.
The Bolts' defense did a great job of containing Adrian Peterson and harassing Donovan McNabb all game. McNabb finished the game completing less than 50% of his passes, 2 sacks and an interception. The only way the Vikings offense could seemingly get anything going was when Donovan would run for big gains on broken plays.
Special Teams is still a major issue, but perhaps not as big of one as it was last year (because of the rule change).