It’s time to give out our BFTB staff predictions for Friday’s season opener against the Chargers.
As per usual in these roundtables, each member of the staff will take a turn giving out their thoughts and foresight on how they see this week’s game shaking out.
Let’s go ahead and dive in!
Michael:
I’ll sound like a broken with this if you’ve been around BFTB and my work long enough but I’m going to say it again: This is the Chiefs’ division until someone actually takes it from them. That’s true now and will
be true Friday night unless I’m shown otherwise.
I think this one will be super competitive from start to finish but it’ll come down to Herbert throwing them to a victory as I do not believe the running game will be where we want it to be out of the gates. If Herbert stays clean with no interceptions, and the Chargers defense in turn picks off Mahomes at least once, I will like their chances a whole lot more.
Still, as I asserted above, the Chargers have to prove it to get my vote of confidence. I have the Chiefs winning 23-20.
Kyle:
Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 are bad news. Since joining the Chiefs, Reid sports a 10-2 Week 1 record. With Mahomes, they’re 6-1. Mahomes has a 21-2 TD/INT ratio in Week 1 games. If the Chargers’ defense can generate turnovers as they did in the preseason with their backups, courtesy of Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter’s defense, there’s a real avenue for victory. But the likelihood seems small. Frustratingly, the Chiefs will win this one in the area of 30-23 and the reign continues.
Jeremy:
The Chargers get a chance to make a statement in their first game of the season against the longtime rival Chiefs. A win in Sao Paolo would give the Chargers a leg up in the AFC West and some attention fromnthe rest of the league. However, with a lot of variables up in the air for the matchup with the crowd and field conditions, the Chiefs walk away with a 27-23 win.
