Kansas City Chiefs: Team Takes Step Back in Loss To the San Diego Chargers

There is no easier way of saying it, other than that the Chiefs played awful in their re-match against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

They couldn't do anything right on offense or defense, and did little on special teams.

The end result was a 31-0 beatdown at the hands of the Chargers, and the Chiefs somewhat firm grip on the AFC West is now looser with just a one-game lead over San Diego.

Kansas City backup QB Brodie Croyle struggled mightily filling in for Matt Cassel as Cassel didn't make the trip due to a recent appendectomy from earlier in the week.

Of course, Croyle didn't have much help from his teammates either, as the offensive line couldn't protect him for much of the game, giving up four sacks and leaving Croyle on his backside one too many times.

The Chiefs were also unable to get their vaunted running game going as they just managed to get 48 rushing yards against a determined Charger defense.

Nothing that KC offensive coordinator Charlie Weis drew up worked on this day, and the Chiefs offense looked like a unit that was not ready for this game.

As if the offense's performance wasn't bad enough, the defense was equally ineffective.

It let the Chargers' ground attack, led by Mike Tolbert and rookie Ryan Mathews, roll up an impressive 207 yards against one of the better run defenses in the league.

The pass rush did nothing against Phillip Rivers and the Chargers offensive line aside from Tamba Hali getting through a few times.

The secondary and linebackers were getting burnt all day against the Chargers arsenal of receiving threats.

Rivers seemed to be very comfortable all game long, as he was able to carve up the Chiefs defense even with star TE Antonio Gates out with an injury.

It didn't matter whether it was Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson or even Kelley Washington, the Chargers and Rivers found a way to move the ball fairly easily against a bend-but-don't-break Kansas City defensive unit.

The loss was difficult to take for a team that was just learning how to win again and was looking to win in order to lock down its first division title in seven years.

What makes this loss even harder to take is the fact that the Chiefs were playing well over the last three games and were gaining confidence with each week.

Then the harsh reality of playing a good team on the road that was also fighting for a division title began to set in.

The Chiefs looked like a very uninspired team out there today and came out flat in one of their biggest games in years.

A tough blow that was dealt by the Chargers today is very hard to take for any young team, including Kansas City.

Even though the Chiefs took a step back in their loss today, they still maintain their slim one-game lead over the Chargers with just three games to go.

Plus, they should have starting QB Matt Cassel back for their next game, assuming that he has enough time to fully recover from his recent surgery.

Let's just hope that they put this ugly performance behind them and can take a step back in the right direction next week against St. Louis.