Kansas City @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 28, 2014 ) San Diego 7, Kansas City 19

The San Diego Chargers have been within one score of their opponents at the end of the last five games - they just haven’t managed to come out on top. The Chargers will attempt to snap the slide Sunday when they host the Kansas City Chiefs, who are coming into the meeting with some momentum.

A 4-5 record in the AFC means prime wild-card position, and the Chiefs recent run suggests they might be headed in that direction. Kansas City weathered a five-game losing streak after opening the season with a win and solidified its turnaround by stomping the division-leading Denver Broncos 29-13 last week while picking off Peyton Manning four times. A play or two going a different way in any of the last five games could have the Chargers in playoff position as well, but a finishing stretch that includes five division opponents in the last seven games guarantees they will have an impact on the race. “We understand what’s at stake week in and week out, from here on out, and we understand what we have to do as a football team,” San Diego coach Mike McCoy told reporters. “We have to execute at a high level for 60 minutes as a team, play better and get this thing going again.”

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Chiefs -3. O/U: 45

ABOUT THE CHIEFS (4-5): Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith has been criticized for his unwillingness to take risks with long throws, but the results of late have been wins and no turnovers. Smith has thrown 228 straight passes without an interception and is five away from tying the franchise record set by Steve DeBerg in 1990. “(Smith) knows in his mind and we know in our mind that he's just one of those quarterbacks that's going to protect the football,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson told reporters. “We always have a touchdown, check down mentality. If it's not there, find the back, find the tight end. He's very good at that and it's been a very positive thing for us offensively not turning the ball over.”

ABOUT THE CHARGERS (2-7): Philip Rivers has not thrown a pick in either of the last two games and has already thrown for more than 3,000 yards on the season but is losing weapons with Kennan Allen (kidney) out and Malcolm Floyd (shoulder) and Antonio Gates (knee) limited. The veteran quarterback could use a little more help from a defense that is allowing an average of 27.7 points. “We know what we face,” Rivers told reporters. “It’s a seven-game season. Obviously you take them one at a time, but it’s a seven-game season and we’ve got to put those nine behind us.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Chiefs took both meetings last season and a Kansas City victory Sunday would tie the series at 55-55-1.

2. Gates (101) needs one more TD catch to pass Steve Largent for 19th on the all-time list.

3. Kansas City RB Charcandrick West is averaging 137.3 yards from scrimmage in the last three games.

PREDICTION: Chiefs 31, Chargers 28