For a while, Chiefs have had Chargers number
During the last 20 seasons, no quarterback in the league owns more wins over the Kansas City Chiefs than Philip Rivers, but when defensive coordinator Bob Sutton arrived in Kansas City, the friendly rivalry turned into a house of horrors for the veteran Los Angeles Chargers quarterback.
During the last nine games between the two teams, Rivers has just nine touchdowns with 14 interceptions and, most important, nine losses. If there’s a secret to Sutton’s defensive success against Rivers, he’s not sharing.
“I think he’s probably playing right now as well as he’s ever played,” Sutton said. “I think he’s a dynamic guy. I’ve said this about him a lot, for whatever reason, he doesn’t get mentioned with some of these other quarterbacks. His numbers and his importance to his team are second to none.”
Yet the Chiefs have made Rivers and the Chargers offense look anything but extraordinary during the past nine games. The turnovers standout most of all. The Chiefs have forced turnovers from Rivers in eight of their last nine games against him.
“Anytime we can get the ball from him we feel fortunate,” Sutton said. “He’s a daring quarterback, too. He’s not shying away, he’s got a lot of confidence in his ability and so he’s going to stick the ball into some tight windows and sometimes if you’re fortunate on defense you can get him.”
Rivers turned in arguably his best performance against the Chiefs in five years during the season opener between the two teams. Rivers completed 34-of-51 passes for 424 yards and three touchdowns with just one pick.
“He had a few yards last time we played them I think if I remember correctly there,” Sutton said. “In the fourth quarter he had a ton of them.”
The Chargers might have ended their losing streak against the Chiefs if not for the quarterback on the opposite sideline. Patrick Mahomes, in his second career start, completed 15-of-27 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns in staking the Chiefs to a 38-28 victory.
Los Angeles head coach Anthony Lynn knows all about Mahomes. The two share an alma mater in Texas Tech, and Lynn said he had many conversations with former Red Raiders head coach Kliff Kingsbury about the 23-year-old passer.
“What he’s doing now doesn’t surprise me at all,” Lynn said, referring to the 4,300 passing yards and 43 touchdowns posted by Mahomes in the first 13 games of the season. “He’s a heck of a football player, and he’s just playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Neither team mounted much defense in the season-opening shootout in Los Angeles, but that should change Thursday night in Kansas City. The Chargers were missing defensive end Joey Bosa in that contest, and Lynn said Bosa has finally no limitations after returning from a foot injury.
“The first couple of weeks we kind of monitored his play count and last week we just turned him loose and now he’s back at his normal rotation,” Lynn said. “But I just believe he’s getting better every game. It can’t do nothing but help our defense and our football team.”
The Chiefs hope to have their own defensive leader back Thursday night. Safety Eric Berry hasn’t played a game this season for the Chiefs, but he could see his first snaps. The Chiefs hope his presence on the field provides a shot in the arm to a defense allowing 27 points and 410 yards per game.
Sutton expects Berry to play in a limited role if he takes the field, and the club will listen to their veteran on how much he can handle in his first game back.
“But a lot of times guys that have missed a lot of time, they don’t want to come back out,” Sutton said. “They’ve been waiting all this time to get in, but you’ve got to be smart and he’s got to be smart with it, which I think he would be. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
SERIES HISTORY: 117th regular-season meeting. Chiefs lead series, 61-54-1. No matchup epitomizes Kansas City’s recent run of dominance against the AFC West more than their nine-game winning streak against the Chargers. The Chiefs have won 20 of their last 21 games inside the division. During the nine-game winning streak, the Chiefs have forced Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers into 14 interceptions.
