**
**
The San Diego Chargers (3-9) enter Sunday's contest with the Kansas City Chiefs (7-5) having lost seven of their last eight games, including a 33-3 loss to Kansas City just three weeks ago. The Chargers are 1-4 on the road this season.
Head coach Mike McCoy commented on the quick turnaround with the Chiefs.
"That's the way the game is these days in the division," he said. "Everyone is doing it at some point in time in the year [where] there's a quick turnaround before you play another team, so we're familiar with one another, obviously, the number of times we've played against each other, the coordinators, the head coaches, things like that. Everyone else in the league is doing it also, so it's nothing new."
San Diego lost their last game, 17-3, to the first-place Denver Broncos.
Here's a look at the Chargers coaching staff:
Chargers Coaching Staff
Position
Name
Head Coach
Mike McCoy
Offensive Coordinator
Frank Reich
Defensive Coordinator
John Pagano
Special Teams Coordinator
Craig Aukerman
Despite losing key players to Injured Reserve this season (right guard Johnnie Troutman, running back Branden Oliver, wide receiver Keenan Allen and center Chris Watt), quarterback Philip Rivers has led San Diego to the sixth best offense and fourth best passing offense in the league.
Wide receiver Malcom Floyd (shoulder) returned to action against the Broncos last week. Floyd had 1 catch for 13 yards on 4 targets in the loss.
With WRs Stevie Johnson (neck) and Dontrelle Inman (groin) held out of practice Wednesday due to injury, Floyd may need to play a bigger role for the Chargers Sunday against the Chiefs. To help with the possible vacancies, the Chargers also signed WR Vincent Brown this week.
Among players still active for the Chargers, running back Danny Woodhead has both the most targets (74) and receptions (55).
Rivers has also heavily targeted tight end Antonio Gates, who is in his 13th season with the Chargers. Gates led the team with 2 touchdowns in San Diego's 31-25 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago.
Gates believes that the upcoming game against the Chiefs will be important for the identity of his Chargers moving forward.
"It's an opportunity for guys to – in my opinion, really show what they're about," he said, "really show the characteristics of what this team is made of. More importantly, obviously we're not playing for a playoff berth at this particular point, but playing for this organization and playing for your pride to me, is just as important. So I think collectively, that's something that we're trying to hang our hats on and I'm quite sure we'll do our best and just try to fight – fight together for these last few weeks."
The Chargers are much more likely to pass the ball (504 attempts) than run the ball (285 attempts), but when they do opt to run, it's primarily with with rookie RB Melvin Gordon.
Gordon leads the Chargers with 155 attempts for 565 yards rushing this season, but hasn't recorded a touchdown. The only touchdowns rushing for the Chargers came in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, against whom Woodhead had 2.
Here's a look at the unofficial offensive depth chart for the Chargers:
San Diego Chargers Offensive Depth Chart (Unofficial)
POS
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
THIRD
WR
Malcolm Floyd
Dontrelle Inman
Javontee Herndon
LT
King Dunlap
Chris Hairston
LG
Orlando Franklin
Kenny Wiggins
C
Trevor Robinson
J.D. Walton
RG
D.J. Fluker
Kenny Wiggins
RT
Joe Barksdale
Tyreek Burwell
TE
Ladarius Green
John Phillips
TE
Antonio Gates
David Johnson
WR
Stevie Johnson
Tyrell Williams
QB
Phillip Rivers
Kellen Clemens
RB
Melvin Gordon
Danny Woodhead
Donald Brown
Here's a look at the Chargers numbers and ranks so far this season on offense:
Offense
Chiefs
Chargers
Net Yards Per Game
341.3 (23rd)
380.6 (6th)
Yards Per Play
5.58 (11th)
5.58 (12th)
Points Per Game
26.8 (5th)
20.6 (25th)
Possession Average
30:48 (10th)
30:50 (9th)
Net Rushing Yards Per Game
121.3 (7th)
82.7 (30th)
Net Passing Yards Per Game
220.0 (26th)
297.9 (4th)
Had Intercepted/Yards
3/44
9/262
Sacks Allowed/Yards
39/-207.0 (T-29th)
30/-201.0 (22nd)
Fumbles/Lost
12/7
16/10
Third down Pct.
36.7% (21st)
43.0% (6th)
Red Zone TD Pct.
55.3% (19th)
61.8% (9th)
Giveaways
10 (2nd)
19 (T-14th)
The San Diego Chargers give up 370.6 yards per game, ranking them 24th for total defense in the entire league. Based on the same stat, they are 26th (124.6 yards allowed per game) against the run and 21st (246.0 yards allowed per game) against the pass.
The best players on the Chargers defense are safety Eric Weddle and linebackers Melvin Ingram and Manti Te'o. Weddle, a three-time Pro Bowler, leads the Chargers in total tackles with 70.
Ingram leads the Chargers defense with 5.0 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, but the defense as a whole has shown a knack for bringing pressure from all different angles this year. 13 different Chargers players have at least a half a sack on the season. Ingram also leads the team in forced fumbles with 2.
LB Denzel Perryman had the most tackles against the Broncos last week with 10.
*Familiar face: *Cornerback Brandon Flowers spent 2008-13 with the Chiefs. In 87 games with Kansas City, he recorded 17 interceptions and returned 1 for a touchdown. The Chiefs will likely not see Flowers Sunday, as he was carted off with a knee injury in San Diego's game with the Broncos and has yet to practice this week.
Here is a look at the Chargers defensive depth chart:
San Diego Chargers Defensive Depth Chart (Unofficial)
POS
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
DE
Kendall Reyes
Ricardo Mathews
NT
Sean Lissemore
Ryan Carrethers
DT
Corey Liuget
Ricardo Mathews
Damion Square
OLB
Melvin Ingram
Kyle Emanuel
ILB
Manti Te-o
Kavell Conner
Joe Mays
ILB
Donald Butler
Denzel Perryman
Nick Dzubnar
OLB
Jerry Attaochu
Cordarro Law
CB
Brandon Flowers
Steve Williams
Greg Ducre
CB
Jason Verrett
Patrick Robinson
Craig Mager
SS
Jahleel Addae
Jimmy Wilson
Adrian Phillips
FS
Eric Weddle
Darrell Stuckey
Here's a look at the Chargers numbers and ranks so far this season on defense:
Defense
Chiefs
Chargers
Net Yards Per Game
337.5 (T-10th)
370.6 (24th)
Yards Per Play
5.19 (6th)
6.15 (30th)
Points Per Game
20.0 (T-7th)
27.0 (29th)
Net Rushing Yards Per Game
96.2 (8th)
124.6 (26th)
Net Passing Yards Per Game
241.3 (14th)
246.0 (21st)
Intercepted by/Yards
17/333.0
7/106.0
Sacks For/Yards
34/-218.0 (T-5th)
22/-144.0 (T-24th)
Opponent Fumbles/Lost
16/6
7/4
Third down Pct.
33.8% (6th)
39.6% (18th)
Red Zone TD Pct.
66.7% (30th)
47.5% (6th)
Takeaways
23 (T-3rd)
11 (29th)
Finally, here's a side-by-side comparison of the individual statistical leaders for both teams:
Chiefs
Chargers
Passing Yards
A. Smith
2,843
P. Rivers
3,713
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
Rushing Yards
C. West
408
M. Gordon
565
J. Charles
364
D. Woodhead
255
A. Smith
326
B. Oliver
108
Receiving Yards
J. Maclin
867
K. Allen
725
T. Kelce
731
D. Woodhead
593
A. Wilson
279
S. Johnson
497
Points Scored
C. Santos
107
J. Lambo
81
Three Tied
30
D. Woodhead
30
T. Kelce
28
L. Green
28
Interceptions
M. Peters
5
J. Verrett
2
Five Tied
2
* *
Five Tied
1
Sacks
J. Houston
7.5
M. Ingram
5
T. Hali
6.5
J. Attaochu
4.5
A. Bailey
4.5
C. Liuget
3
D. Johnson
4
K. Reyes
2
Defensive Tackles
D. Johnson
82
E. Weddle
67
R. Parker
57
M. Te'o
57
M. Peters
50
M. Ingram
48
