Taking a break from pretending as if the sky isn't falling and the LA Chargers aren't doing what many fans have long been used to, we're checking in on a division rival who just got put into a very difficult spot.
The Kansas City Chiefs might look like their terrifying old selves following a Week 7 blowout of the Las Vegas Raiders. But, they recently got some stark injury news that is going to put their defense in a difficult position. And no one knows that position better than Chargers fans.
Specifically, Chiefs' rookie second-round pick Omarr Norman-Lott officially suffered a torn ACL in the team's Week 7 victory. The defensive tackle was someone Kansas City counted on heavily in order to take some pressure off veteran Chris Jones.
Now, without Norman-Lott, there is going to be a ton of pressure on former Chargers first-round pick Jerry Tillery, who is expected to shoulder a lot of the extra playing time in Kansas City.
The Chiefs might want to prepare for the worst with Jerry Tillery taking on added playing time
This isn't exactly supposed to be about bashing Tillery, but Chargers fans know this story all too well. While Kansas City expects to get a good amount of pass rush prowess out of Jones, they aren't going to get anywhere close to that level of production from Tillery.
In fact, Tillery might even be a better pass rusher than he is run defender. Sadly, Tillery has historically been one of the worst-graded defensive linemen in the entire league when it comes to run defense. Whether you want to trust Pro Football Focus, any other independent outlet or simply your eyes, the same will wind up being true.
The conclusion has always been that Tillery is a massive liability against the run. And, this is a Chiefs defense that's going to be counted on to do just that come playoff time.
Jones isn't going to be able to play an absurd amount of snaps like he's been asked to in recent weeks, so Tillery will get the call. Now, will the Chiefs go out and make a bold move to acquire more depth? Shoot, they absolutely should. But, Chargers fans have to secretly be hoping that they don't.
In what's become a close, three-horse race in the AFC West, the Chargers' season is far from done. So, they'll take any and every advantage from here on out. At the moment, Tillery is hilariously providing L.A. exactly that: an advantage.