Los Angeles Chargers

Chargers at Chiefs: Game preview, odds, prediction

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The San Diego Chargers will travel to Kansas City to open up their 2016 NFL regular season schedule, and the Chiefs will be ready.

The AFC West is up for grabs in 2016, and the Kansas City Chiefs appear slated to grab it. Loaded with one of the more solid rosters in all of football, the Chiefs will look to get their season started with a win against a division rival. The San Diego Chargers head to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs, and they may be walking into a buzz-saw.

As the page turns to 2016, the Denver Broncos are no longer the class of the division. Denver will be starting an inexperienced quarterback in Trevor Siemian, who has never thrown a pass in an NFL regular season game. In contrast, the Chiefs have a cerebral signal-caller in Alex Smith, who has the experience to take his team to the next level.

Despite the fact that both Jamaal Charles and Justin Houston will likely not play in Week 1, the Chiefs are still the favorite to win. Smith had plenty of other weapons, as tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin are both big-time play makers. Kansas City is likely to use a combination of Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware at running back until Charles is healthy.

For San Diego, they will look to go to the air early and often on Sunday. Philip Rivers is one of the best quarterback in football, and he has an incredible will to win. His favorite target, Antonio Gates is healthy, and wide receivers Keenan Allen and Travis Benjamin are solid threats on the outside. The Chiefs have an unbelievable secondary, which was solidified when Eric Berry returned to the team this past month.

This game is going to be closer than the oddsmakers think, but Kansas City will win it none the less. Rivers is going to do everything he can to keep it close, but the Chiefs will pull it out in the end. However, if San Diego has a tough time containing the Chiefs running game, it could get ugly. I think Rivers and company hang in, with the Chiefs scoring late to win it.

Prediction: Kansas City 21, San Diego 17