Los Angeles Chargers: Why they’ll lose to Chiefs Week 1

Every week, we will highlight reasons why the Los Angeles Chargers will either win or lose against their next opponent. Here’s why they may lose to the Chiefs.

Last time, we took a look at reasons why the Los Angeles Chargers could emerge victorious against their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Although fans are right to be optimistic, there are certainly a number of detractors who point out a number of ways in which the Chiefs will beat the Bolts for the ninth time in a row.

Here are a few of them.

Kareem Hunt

It should come to no one’s surprise that this guy is the first reason brought up; after all, as a rookie, Hunt averaged 7.98 yards per rush against the weak interior defensive line of the Chargers. General manager Tom Telesco’s response? A third-round defensive tackle in Justin Jones, who has played only a handful of snaps all preseason.

While the team did draft players designed to limit big runs and patrol the middle of the defense, it lacks impact run-stuffers between the tackles. Not only does that wear down the defense, but it forces Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa into a position they don’t specialize in.

Head coach Anthony Lynn once stated that the sack numbers for Ingram and Bosa declined significantly because of their shift to focus on defending the run. This limits the true potential of the defense and forces players to move into positions where they cannot excel at the level expected of them.

The Chargers should fully expect Hunt to get 30 total touches in this game, and need to pray that rookies like Derwin James and Uchenna Nwosu come to stop the run. For now, I believe that’s too much to handle for a defense that will be without defensive tackle Corey Liuget and Bosa. It could be a long day at StubHub.