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Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season will open with a massive Thursday Night Football showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, two teams who are coming off wins in Week 1. With that said, here are four bold predictions we have for the Chiefs when they square off with Justin Herbert and the visiting Bolts.
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4. CEH finishes with more receiving yards than JuJu Smith-Schuster
If this was a prop bet, the odds of Clyde Edwards-Helaire having more receiving yards than JuJu Smith-Schuster in a game against any team on any week will always be higher.
In Week 1, Edwards-Helaire only had three catches on three targets for 32 receiving yards, while Smith-Shuster, in his regular-season debut with the Chiefs, pulled down six of eight targets for 79 receiving yards. But the Chiefs might try to strike while CEH's hands are hot. Edwards-Helaire had two receiving touchdowns, both off targets inside the red zone. But he also took one for 25 yards coming off a screen pass play. There could be more passing plays coming from the Chiefs designed to utilize Edwards-Helaire's pass-catching skills.
3. Patrick Mahomes gets sacked zero times
One of the most impressive achievements for the Chargers in Week 1 was that they were able to show how vastly improved they are now in the pass-rushing department. They knew heading into the 2022 offseason that if they are to unseat the Chiefs as kings of the AFC West, they needed an upgrade and that's exactly what they did when they traded for Khalil Mack of the Chicago Bears. Last season, the Chargers were just 19th in the NFL with only 2.1 sacks per game and 20th with just a 5.89 sack percentage. They were so heavily dependent on Joey Bosa, who finished the 2021 season leading the Bolts with 10.5 sacks.
Now with Bosa and Mack, the Chargers have a duo to make any quarterback sweat bullets before a date with Los Angeles, and Patrick Mahomes shouldn't be an exception. Mack immediately made an impact in Week for the Chargers, as he racked up three sacks against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Then again, how many times have Mahomes defied or exceeded expectations? And not just is it not difficult to differentiate Mahomes from Derek Carr but he's also better protected by his offensive line than the Raiders quarterback. The sample size to grade offensive lines is still small this early in the 2022 NFL season, but still, it was clear that the Chiefs did better in protecting Mahomes than the Raiders did to Carr. Per Football Outsiders, the Chiefs had an adjusted sack rate of 0.8% in Week 1, third-best in the league. Combined with Mahomes athleticism and elusiveness, the Chiefs' pass protection should be able to wear down Mack and company in the trenches.
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2. Chiefs defense causes Mike Williams' fantasy football stock to plummet more
Mike Williams was a fantasy football bust in Week 1. But with Keenan Allen already ruled out for Week 2 with a hamstring injury he picked up in Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders, many are looking forward to a Williams special against the Chiefs. Allen is the top option in the robust passing attack of the Chargers, and with him temporarily out, it makes sense to expect Williams to have a strong rebound following a quiet Week 1. The table is set for Williams in that regard.
However, Williams can be quite an adventure for fantasy football managers. Just because Allen is sidelined, it doesn't mean that Williams will suddenly turn into Randy Moss. The targets might not even be significantly more against the Chiefs than what he got in Week 1 when he was targeted four times.
Allen's targets could be spread out to the likes of pass-catching running back Austin Ekeler. There is also the pair of wide receiver DeAndre Carter, and tight end Tre' McKitty, who each had four targets in the season opener. The Chiefs' secondary is also going to be all over Williams. Considering it did a solid job in Week 1 versus the Cardinals, Kansas City's secondary is viewed as a big threat to Big Mike. Safety Juan Thornhill received a high 82.5 defensive rating in Week 1 from Pro Football Focus, while cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams had 70.4 and 76.8 pass coverage ratings, respectively.
1. A blowout win of 20+ points for the Chiefs
The Chargers appear to be the biggest threat to the throne of Kansas City in the AFC West, so if the Chiefs want to really, really, really make a huge statement that the division is still theirs and that the gap between them and the rest of the division is wider than what most people think, then Thursday's home game versus Los Angeles seems to be the perfect setting for Andy Reid's men to make that. Plus, the Chiefs still want some measure of revenge for their 30-24 home loss to Los Angeles back in Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season.
