Chiefs Can't Do Anything Against Chargers, Lose 31-0

The Kansas City Chiefs were beat down by the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, 31-0. It was the first shutout for Kansas City since Oct. 5, 2008 against the Carolina Panthers when they lost 34-0. The Chiefs were beaten in just about every area in the game (except the turnover battle, interesting enough).

Chiefs backup QB Brodie Croyle completed just 7-of-17 passes for 40 yards and couldn't do anything in the passing game. He was inconsistent and didn't deliver on anything. Pretty disappointing day for Croyle.

RB Jamaal Charles, who signed a five year extension over the weekend, had 40 yards on 10 carries. The Chiefs were down 21-0 in the first half so they couldn't run the ball the entire second half (though they tried to).

WR Dwayne Bowe wasn't a factor and dropped pass as well. It seemed that anytime the Chiefs had a good play, there was a penalty to bring it back.

The Chargers were able to do anything they wanted for the most part. Their running game passed 200 yards -- the highest of the season for the Chiefs run defense. And QB Philip Rivers was very efficient all afternoon en route to two touchdown passes to WR Malcolm Floyd.

The Chiefs actually won the turnover battle 2-0 with a S Eric Berry interception and a Rivers fumble by DE Wallace Gilberry (forced by LB Tamba Hali).

The Chiefs looked bad pretty much every area.

The Kansas City Chiefs are getting blown out in San Diego. The Chargers lead the Chiefs 21-0 after two quarters of play. It seems nothing is going Kansas City's way and that includes the Chargers touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

Philip Rivers hit a diving Malcolm Floyd in the corner of the end zone from nine yards out. The call on the field was a touchdown but it looked like Floyd bobbled the ball as it hit the ground. The officials upheld the play on the field though and the touchdown stood giving the Chargers a 21-0 lead.

The Chargers first touchdown came on a 17-yard touchdown to Floyd. The second score came from Mike Tolbert making it 14-0.

The Chiefs can't seem to do anything right. Offensively, they're not extending drives and defensively they're allowing the Chargers to do whatever they want.

It's halftime and San Diego leads, 21-0.

The San Diego Chargers got off to a fast start against the Kansas City Chiefs scoring on their first drive of the game to make it 7-0. QB Philip Rivers hit WR Malcolm Floyd -- who was blanketed by CB Brandon Flowers -- for a touchdown.

Rivers went 3-of-3 for 34 yards on the drive including the 17-yard touchdown pass to Floyd. WR Vincent Jackson got his first reception of the season and also took a handoff on an end-around for 14 yards. RB Ryan Mathews had three carries for 13 yards on the drive.

The Chiefs got one first down as RB Jamaal Charles ran twice for 11 yards and RB Thomas Jones added two yards on two carries. QB Brodie Croyle attempted one pass which was complete for a loss. The Chiefs were run-heavy on their first drive with QB Matt Cassel out.

The Chiefs need this victory to basically wrap up the AFC West. A KC victory would put them up three games on both the Chargers and Raiders with three games remaining. A San Diego victory opens the division back up.

The Chargers lead the Chiefs 7-0.

The San Diego Chargers will be missing a very important piece of the puzzle on Sunday when they host the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers inactive list includes TE Antonio Gates which means he will not play against the Chiefs. This is a huge blow for the Chargers and very good news for KC.

In their Week 1 matchup, the Chiefs had to make second half adjustments to focus on stopping Gates so guys like Eric Berry will take this news very well.

Here's the full inactive list for KC: QB Matt Cassel, CB Mike Richardson, S Donald Washington, FB Tim Castille, LB Corey Mays, LB Charlie Anderson, C Rudy Niswanger and NT Anthony Toribio.

The Chargers will have Vincent Jackson and Darren Sproles. Jackson has played less than one series this year so he'll have some rust to shake off.

Antonio Gates....big loss for San Diego.

The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Diego Chargers on Sunday without their starting QB Matt Cassel.

Officially.

There had been some questions of whether or not Cassel would play -- and I'm not sure any of us really thought he would -- but the news is official now that he didn't travel with the team to San Diego.

So that means it's all up to Brodie Croyle, the backup QB. For a backup, you have to like what Croyle brings to the table. We'll see if it's enough to win but I like what he can do. He's been in this offense as long as Cassel now and performed well the last time he started. There's reason to think he can make this game competitive.

Either way, with or without Cassel, the Chiefs game plan likely includes a heavy dose of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones so we can expect lots and lots of running.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Friday that QB Matt Cassel is doubtful for Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers. Doubtful means there's a 25 percent chance of playing but you can pretty much rule him out.

That means the game will fall in the hands of backup QB Brodie Croyle. He hasn't started a game since Sept. 13, 2009 when he completed 16-of-24 passes for 177 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Baltimore Ravens. Croyle is 0-9 in his career as a starter.

What does this mean for the Chiefs?

It means RBs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones can expect plenty of action. The Chiefs may elect to focus even more on the running game this weekend. That was likely already a large part of their game plan but, with Cassel out, it becomes even more important now.

So Cassel's probably not going to play and it'll be up to Croyle to knock the Chargers out of the AFC West race.

The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to play the San Diego Chargers on Sunday and, from what we can tell, they're preparing to play without their starting quarterback Matt Cassel. The Chiefs QB underwent an appendectomy on Wednesday and has not practiced since then.

On Friday, he arrived at Chiefs practice but, according to multiple reports, he didn't anything strenuous. That would indicate to us that Cassel's unlikely to go.

The Chiefs are preparing to play without Cassel as backup Brodie Croyle has been taking first team snaps this week. Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said earlier in the week that Cassel would likely have to practice to some degree to have a shot to play.

Considering all the reports we've heard, it seems very unlikely Cassel is going to play. On Friday afternoon, the Chiefs will have to declare his status -- out, doubtful, questionable or probable. If it's out or doubtful, then he's not going to play. If it's questionable or probable, then the door has not been shut.

We should find out his status this afternoon but, for now, don't count on Cassel being around.

When the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers play on Sunday, it will be just the fourth time they've played and Antonio Gates has been the best tight end on the field. The Chiefs used to have a guy named Tony Gonzalez who has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he's the best tight to ever play the game.

On Sunday, Gates is expected to be on the field against the Chiefs. He's suffering from a foot injury that reportedly has a lot of pain involved. Gates says he's made it this far and that he'll be playing on Sunday against the Chiefs.

Gates historically has done well against the Chiefs and foot injury or not he's a weapon KC has to watch out for. In Week 1 against the Chiefs, Gates had five receptions for 76 yards. You could tell what the Chiefs thought of him because on the Chargers final play they nearly mugged him with multiple guys covering him as the Chargers tried to tie the game near the goal line.

Gates should be expected to produce once again against Kansas City. Eric Berry was on Gates last year until the second half when KC made some adjustments. It'll be interesting to see how they handle him this time around. Chiefs players have said before that they don't want to get beat the same way twice.

The Kansas City Chiefs haven't yet ruled out Matt Cassel but, from what I understand, an appendectomy leaves someone pretty sore meaning if Cassel does play this weekend -- which is still very questionable -- he wouldn't be full strength. It's probably fairly obvious but Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones become even more important.

If Cassel does somehow, someway play on Sunday, then we can't expect him to be throwing for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Rather the Chiefs would probably want to slow the game down and keep it in their hands via the running game. That's where Charles and Jones come in.

If those two can get it going early on Sunday, then the Chiefs are going to have a shot. But if the running game doesn't get going, then this could turn into a shootout which wouldn't be very good for Kansas City.

If Cassel doesn't go on Sunday, it'll be Brodie Croyle. We really don't know what we have with him so, again, I imagine the Chiefs running game would include a heavier dose of the run when dealing with an unknown like that.

My guess? Cassel doesn't play and Charles and Jones combine for over 40 carries. Fantasy footballers, take note.

Nearly two weeks ago WR Vincent Jackson attempted to make his comeback to the San Diego Chargers after sitting out the season because he didn't sign his restricted free agent tender. He came in for a handful of plays and promptly injured his calf and left.

The early word was that he'd be out two weeks, which would have included Sunday's game against the Chiefs. While the Chargers are still not necessarily optimistic, there's a chance he's ready, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Wide receiver Vincent Jackson practiced on Thursday, appearing to run without any hindrance from the right calf strain he suffered two weeks ago in Indianapolis but not working the entire practice.

"It's manageable, I guess," Jackson said. "It's still pretty hard, sore, hurting."

Whether he plays or not may not make a huge difference. He hasn't played but a couple plays this years so I can't imagine he'd have a major impact in his first game back. That, and then you've got his injury which could be limiting him.

If Jackson returns against the Chiefs, I wouldn't expect a major game out of him. Of course KC would probably rather see the Vincent Jackson-less Chargers.