I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

The Chargers are the biggest dark horse team. They have the best defense in football statistically, their OL has elite bookend tackles and they can run the ball. Herbert is also playing the best ball of his career.

That team will beat Houston IMO. And I wouldn’t put it past them to beat Buffalo in Buffalo bc boy do the Bills no match up well with them.

Chargers are pretty much Ravens west. They’re a better version of the Ravens right now and we saw what the Ravens did to the Bills.

You think the Donks are better than I do...KC "should" have beaten them by 10+ points and that was with a generic game plan and no Hollywood Brown, Pacheco, Omenihu.

Chiefs are going to look different in 4-5 weeks...then of course, it's the play-offs Chiefs...not the trodding regular season version.

that team could generate pressure with the blitz because it had Sneed and Watson taking the snaps that Conner and Johnson are taking now.

That's a MASSIVE step down.

I have a hard time seeing this defense getting anywhere near that level. The offense MUST step up. And frankly, the steps taken by the front-office this year seemed to be designed for exactly that.

But with the loss of Rice and Brown, not to mention Pacheco and the continued decline of Kelce, we're just struggling there.

But the idea of leaning into the defense to win a championship is pretty much a non-starter for me. I just don't see that happening this time around. The talent simply isn't there in the defensive secondary and it's lacking to the point that it's directly impacting the pass rush as well.

This defense is going to have to play soft and hope for some breaks. Penalties, poor execution, etc... It can't dictate terms like it did last season. So the offense will have to be the tip of the spear, IMO.

Eh, they're really coming on but I'm not sure about Ravens west quite yet.

Herbert is not a big game QB...suffered one of the biggest post-season collapses against the Jags....nearly choked the Sunday night game...and should have lost.

This is who he is...

Chargers arent close to the Ravens...the only winning team they've beaten is the Donks.

The Chargers are going to win their first playoff game IMO unless its against Buffalo.

And even then, I give them a solid shot to win that too if they can catch BUF looking past them.

Very much so. I still don’t think most people appreciate how improbable it was. Last year is not repeatable in a general sense, but especially with the defense seeming a tad less formidable this season.

Harbaugh has changed the culture there. They aren’t run by a stupid ****ing yoga nerd anymore and it shows.

Yes they are the Ravens west. It’s the same philosophy as his brother. Play smart, strong defense and running game, strong in the trenches, wear down the other team.

The fact that they beat the Bengals is proof they are getting better bc they used to blow those games.

Everyone laughed when I said Harbaugh would help that franchise immensely. They are finally structured and run well and are not relying solely on Herbert to win games anymore.

I like it...have to beat the Raiders though...so after that.

The Bills last two opening playoff games were not good showings with both very much potential losses and close deep into the fourth quarter. They were saved in those games by facing terrible QBs. The Chargers would be scary for them.

They might have come back to win at the end, but they definitely blew that game twice. McPherson missed two field goals which either one would have broken the tie. Then it’s Herbert needing to lead a drive while behind. Again could have happened, but they got fortunate to not be trailing with a minute to go or whatever it was.

I'm sure that Andy and Spags are aware of this and adjusting accordingly. At least I hope so.

Welllllll, thats one approach.

Same with the Chargers. They have two elite pass rushers and are familiar with the Chiefs. Always play us tough. Herbert has never won a big game but I still fear his arm more than Bo Nix's.

They definitely need to come to grips with the reality that they cannot continue this conservative offensive approach and get where they wanna go. I think we saw where that will end their season this past Sunday. The defense can't make the amount of stops they are asking them to many weeks against great teams.

Sunday would be a great time to turn up the aggression and have a mentality that you need at least 28 points every week and attack defenses in that manner. Most weeks they probably won't need more than 21, but there is coming some times they definitely will.