The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 2 Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs Thursday Night Football game.
| LA Chargers | Rank | @ | Kansas City | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | Spread | -3.5 | ||
| 25.5 | Implied Total | 29 | ||
| 24 | 9 | Points/Gm | 44 | 1 |
| 19 | 9 | Points All./Gm | 21 | 17 |
| 65 | 13 | Plays/Gm | 66 | 10 |
| 56 | 5 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 63 | 17 |
| 5.5 | 17 | Off. Yards/Play | 7.4 | 1 |
| 20 | 5.7 | Def. Yards/Play | 6 | 4.5 |
| 47.69% | 8 | Rush% | 40.91% | 15 |
| 52.31% | 25 | Pass% | 59.09% | 18 |
| 23.21% | 2 | Opp. Rush % | 34.92% | 9 |
| 76.79% | 31 | Opp. Pass % | 65.08% | 24 |
- In the two matchups between these teams in 2021, these teams combined to score on 48.7% of their drives, a touchdown on 38.5% of possessions, and punt just 17.9% of the time.
- A league-high 43.9% of the offensive plays for Kansas City resulted in a first down or touchdown in Week 1.
- The Chiefs (68.3%) and Chargers (60.0%) were first and third in success rate per passing play in Week 1.
- Patrick Mahomes was 11-of-12 passing for 164 yards (13.7 Y/A) with nine first downs/touchdowns on non-first down passes needing seven or more yards in Week 1.
- Justin Herbert was 13-of-15 for 142 yards (9.5 Y/A) with seven first downs/touchdowns in those same situations in Week 1.
- Mahomes was blitzed on a league-high 51.2% of his dropbacks in Week 1, completing 16-of-23 passes (69.6%) for 143 yards (6.2 Y/A) with five touchdowns on those dropbacks. No other quarterback threw multiple touchdown passes against the blitz in Week 1.
- Mahomes has multiple touchdown passes now in nine straight games dating back to last season, the longest active streak in the league. The next closest passer (Josh Allen) has four.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes (TRUST): After a strong preseason showing, Mahomes got off to a blistering start to the regular season, closing Week 1 as the highest scoring quarterback (34.9 points). Arizona dared to blitz Mahomes at will as noted above, just welcoming the buzzsaw and opting for a quick death.
In two games against the Chargers a year ago, Mahomes was the QB7 (22.9 points) and the QB2 (29.6 points). Los Angeles blitzed Mahomes on 28.0% of his dropbacks in those games and paid just about every time, with Mahomes completing 20-of-27 passes (74.1%) for 253 yards (9.4 Y/A) with a pair of touchdowns.
There are some moving parts here as Mahomes had Tyreek Hill in both of those matchups while the Chargers were without the upgrades they’ve made this offseason. Without J.C. Jackson available, the Chargers were 11th in completion rate allowed (59.5%), but they allowed a handful of splash plays, allowing 7.9 yards per pass attempt (21st) and a 5.4% touchdown rate (21st).
Kicking off the highest game total of Week 2, we will have a hard time finding players we do not want to go all in on for ceiling expectations.
