After a successful opening week versus the Arizona Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Los Angeles Chargers in their home opener on “Thursday Night Football.”
The Chargers are also coming off a Week 1 victory, beating the Las Vegas Raiders 24-19. Check out our offseason report about the Chargers, where you’ll find information about their offseason moves and key players.
Let’s dive into this matchup and see what it will take for Kansas City to move to 2-0.
Chiefs’ defense vs. Chargers’ offense
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Staley is in his second year as the Chargers’ head coach. When he was hired in 2021 he brought Joe Lombardi in to be his offensive coordinator. Staples of Lombardi’s offense are various types of tight formations, where the receivers and tight ends line up tightly together and stay inside the numbers on the field.
Tight formations help the running game by adding extra gaps for backs to run through. Lombardi uses a lot of pre-snap motion which opens up running lanes since defenses have to respect the threat of attacking the outside of the field. The Chargers run a lot of outside-zone running plays, which attack the edge of the defensive line with multiple offensive linemen kicking out to block ahead of the running back.
In the passing game, tight formations enable the offense to attack the edges of the field. A receiver on each side of the formation will run crossing (or drag) routes, forcing defenders to cover the middle of the field. If the receivers beat their man or find a soft spot in zone coverage, it’s an easy throw for quarterback Justin Herbert and usually a big gain.
If the receivers are covered well, there will be plenty of space to work with on the edge of the field. The Chargers exploit this very well, especially with running back Austin Ekeler. He is one of the best pass-catching backs in the NFL and does a great job of finding open space on the boundary for Herbert to easily check down to him.
After the Chargers have continuously hit the defense underneath, they’ll take their shot downfield out of formations that feature three or four receivers. With two receivers crossing underneath and a running back going out into the flat, Lombardi will send a receiver vertical (usually Mike Williams, his best deep threat) to try for a big play.
The Chiefs’ defense will have its work cut out for it against this L.A. offense. It will have to be agile and…
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