Kansas City Chiefs take on AFC West rivals San Diego Chargers in Week 9 – NFL Preview
San Diego Chargers will host their fellow American Football Conference (AFC) West opponents Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday for Week 9 tie on November 01, 2012, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California.
It is a contest between two teams that are desperately looking for a win. Chargers are looking forward to getting an advantage of playing at home after losing their last three games.
On the other hand, Chiefs are placed at the bottom of the league and have lost four consecutive games.
Chargers head coach Norv Turner is living his job on a weekly basis and so does the Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel who is feeling pressure after another disappointing first half of a season.
As was the case in previous two seasons, Chargers (3-4) have been unable to capitalise on good start they got to the season.
Both teams will be playing their second game in a span of five days, so fitness will play a part in the finals result.
In their last game, Chargers failed to score a touchdown and lost 6-7 to modest Cleveland Browns.
Turner pointed towards the team’s lack of consistency as the reason behind their recent failures. He said:
"We've not been able to put together the kind of consistency we need to, It is an extremely challenging situation for our football team. You're coaching on a week-to-week basis, I'm coaching to do the best job I can to get our team ready to play Kansas City.”
Quarterback Philip Rivers has been struggling throughout this season because of giving away too many turnovers. However, he does have a very good record against Chiefs.
Chargers offence will have more opportunities to score points against Chiefs dismal defence which has given away an average of 29.9 points per game this season.
After their 16-26 loss against Oakland Raiders at home last Sunday, Chiefs have become the only team since 1940 to play their first seven games of a season without getting lead in regulation.
Crennel has emphasised that his team is lacking the winning mentality. He said:
"When you lose, it gets tough on you, mentally, you know? You wonder about who you played, what you could have done differently, why things are happening the way they're happening. You get down a little bit. We have to get them to put this behind us."
Chiefs will again start with quarterback Matt Cassel after Brady Quinn got a concussion during Week 8 game and is unavailable.
Running back Jamaal Charles is in great from and will make most of the plays in the Chiefs offence.
No matter which way the score line goes, in the end it will be a revitalising victory for the winning team.
Tags: