NFL Week 8 Picks: Predicting Score for Chargers vs Chiefs Monday Night Football

Alas we come to the Week 8 Monday night game that has a lot of implications.

Currently the AFC West is a wide-open division for Oakland, Kansas City and San Diego, because Denver is unfortunately at the bottom of the food chain.

Last season Kansas City and San Diego met on Monday night in Week 1, and the Chiefs bested the Chargers 21-14 at Arrowhead Stadium. By season's end, K.C. had won the AFC West and made a complete turnaround from their 2009 campaign.

This season, however, they have lost their two best players in RB Jamaal Charles and safety Eric Berry, so it was no surprise to see K.C. begin 0-3. However, they have since ran off three straight and are back in contention to defend their division crown.

As for the Chargers, they may be 4-2 but still have a lot of proving to do themselves.

All four wins have come against teams with a combined record of 7-21 (beat K.C. at home 20-17 in Week 3), and both losses have come on the road to the Patriots and Jets.

Not to mention none of their wins has been all that impressive to begin with. It's one thing to defeat teams with a bad record, but you would hope that there would be a blowout or two in there. However, this is not the case, and the Bolts remain an anomaly.

On Monday night, it's a battle of controlling the game tempo because each team's strength is set to exploit the other's weakness.

Kansas City has the No. 8-ranked rushing offense, whereas San Diego has the No. 21-ranked rush defense. So, anytime K.C. has the rock, expect a lot of ground and pound because keeping the Chargers' explosive offense off the field and limiting their possessions are crucial.

In turn that will help set up the passing game, because although the Chargers rank No. 4 against the pass, part of that is because no one bothers to throw against them as running the ball will be just as, if not more, effective.

When San Diego has the ball, though, anticipate about a 55/45 rush to pass ratio. The Bolts rank No. 8 and No. 11 in passing and rushing offense, respectively, but the Chiefs only rank No. 18 against the pass and No. 21 against the rush.

However, K.C.'s defense is still very good at forcing turnovers as well as stacking the box to stop the run. When the Chiefs played the Minnesota Vikings, they limited RB Adrian Peterson to 83 total yards, the second best performance against him this season (Chicago was No. 1)

San Diego's ground game isn't nearly as dangerous as Peterson, but their passing game is still solid. But for the Bolts to have success, there has to be a decent balance as K.C. can be very good one way or the other, but not both.

The difference here is special teams.

Despite being somewhat improved from 2010, the Bolts still have a lot of work to do in football's third area, whereas the Chiefs are arguably one of the best in the game.

With return specialists in Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas, Kansas City is capable of taking a return back at anytime. Not to mention McCluster did just that against San Diego at home last season.

Losing Darren Sproles was a devastating blow to the Chargers' versatility. And because of that, Kansas City wins as they control the clock and win the field position battle. San Diego may have a solid offense, but with limited opportunities and a long field with each possession, the odds gradually increase against them.

Prediction: Kansas City 24, San Diego 20

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