It's week one of the NFL season.

The Chiefs are three days away from playing the Chargers on Friday night in Brazil.

We have a lot to talk about covering this game for you today on Locked On Chiefs.

From the land of the three and the home of the Chiefs, this is the Locked-on Chiefs podcast.

Hey, Chiefs, King, and welcome back for another episode of Locked-on Chiefs, your daily podcast covering the Kansas City Chiefs, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every single day.

Thank you for always making Locked-on Chiefs your first listen to the day.

Do not forget to go check out other shows, whether it's Locked-on NFL, maybe Locked-on Chargers.

I'm going to be having a crossover coming in the next couple of days with the Lockdown

Chargers show. It's going to have Matt Derek tomorrow. Lots of talk about to get you ready for

this game on Friday against the Chargers. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.

Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Go check out FanDuel right now. We really do appreciate their sponsorship. So much to talk about when we talk about this Chief's game against the Chargers on Friday in Brazil. We're going to talk about the travel plans, what they're going to do, how their schedule changes, how it could really affect this game. We're going to talk about a little bit later on the show. We're going to talk about how the offense needs to come out firing against this Chargers team. They need to get off to a fast start, and that is extremely important in this game. But we're going to start by looking at the Chargers. Who are the Chargers in 2025? How are they different than what the chiefs have faced in the past? First and foremost, the biggest thing that sticks out and the thing that is going to be something that we're going to be talking about when we get into matchups a little bit later on this week is going to be Trey Pipkins versus anybody in the Chiefs uniform when they're rushing the

passenger as the right tackle. And the reason that's such a big deal is because you

lose Rishon Slater earlier this off season. Two weeks after he signs a new contract,

he is done for the season, won't play. They move Joe Ald over to left tackle. And now you

have Trey Pipkins who you've been working to try to replace for the past couple of seasons. Back as your starter at right tackle, that is going to be a problem for this Chiefs. That is going to be a problem for this Chargers offensive line, and the Chiefs absolutely need to be able to take advantage of that. One of the biggest keys Kansas City can have in this game going up against Chargers is they have to be able to get to Justin Herbert. They need to be able affect the game in the pass rush. But it also goes a little bit further than that because one of the things that the Chargers have shown, and what they showed in 2024 is Harbaugh wants to run the ball. So they're going to try to focus on their running game. They're going to try to use their new running back in a Marion Hampton and try to get him going in the running game against his chief defense. So it's going to be a big question whether or not Kansas City made the right choice bringing back Derek Nottie and letting Mike Pennell walk or if they're going to be paying for that sooner rather than later this week against the Chargers. I do think that when you look at this game and how it's going to be played and how it's going

to play out, if Kansas City's offense does what I am expecting that they should be able to do,

and we'll talk about that a little bit more in the next segment, I think that this game is

going to get away from the Chargers, maybe not early on, but probably by the second

half, you're going to be seeing a different Chargers offense than what they want to be able to do.

If Kansas City can put two scores ahead of the Chargers before halftime, that will put them in

the driver's seat to be able to go into a situation where the Chargers have to throw the ball more, which is obviously something Herbert can do, but it's not what their offense wants to do. They want to be able to run the ball. They want to be able to keep Patrick Mahomes off the field, and they want to be able to attack on the ground. Yes, they have the ability to throw the ball. Herbert specifically has the ability to throw the ball, but his weapons aren't the best. That's going to be something also that's going to play into this because you're looking at their best receiving threat right now is Ladd McConkey, a second year player who's a slot receiver.

I'm not saying he's not a great receiver. He is he is fantastic, but he is not going to be able to by himself keep this offense moving through

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