Don’t tell the Chargers that the Chiefs defense has less of a growl with Ford, who had the best game of his pro career with three sacks and a pass breakup in the back of the end zone on the final play of the 10-3 victory at Arrowhead. That’s no longer the case.
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The flowering partnership between head coach Andy Reid and Smith, an alumnus of Helix High who rooted for the Chargers while growing up in eastern San Diego, has come at the Bolts’ expense. Jamaal Charles returns to the Kansas City backfield after missing all of 2015 with a torn ACL. “Run and pass, a lot of guys touching the football, a lot of guys contributing, a lot of guys with a ton of strengths that are really going to help us”. Not only did they return to the playoffs, they also won their first postseason game in almost three decades. That said, Maclin still gets targeted almost six times per game, according to last year’s numbers, and he should be productive to start the season. San Diego is a big dog here, especially coming off a season where they dropped all six division games.
In 2012, they were even worse, going 2-14 and making me bawl my eyes out each and every week. Since the Chargers run a 3- 4 base defense, the nose tackle position is critical to eat up the blocks of the center and at least one of the offensive guards. Without star linebacker Justin Houston, recovering from his own knee surgery, the Chiefs will rely on the 32-year-old Hali to provide some kind of pressure on the quarterback. Allen was injured in Week 8 while Peters went on to become the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Eric Berry should provide some leadership, but will he be rusty early on? Records from past year show that Melvin Gordon did not record a single TD score all through and as such the San Diego Chargers desperately needs him to be up and doing.
September 25 N.Y. Jets, 3:25 p.m.
November 27 at Denver, 3:25 p.m.
December 25 Denver, 7:30 p.m.
In their last action, Kansas City was a 27-20 loser on the road against the Patriots.
NEW FACES: QB Nick Foles, OT Mitch Schwartz, WR Tyreek Hill, OL Parker Ehinger, DL Chris Jones. After all the drama involving Bosa’s contract holdout, he will be unable to play week 1 due to an injury, which does not help a Chargers pass rush that’s looking to improve the defense that finished in the bottom half of the league in most defensive stat categories previous year.
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Even after missing time last season, Houston trails only J.J. Watt for the most sacks in the National Football League since 2011.
