Chiefs hoping to shore up inconsistent defense

The Chiefs are headed to San Diego this weekend to play the Chargers and on that trip Hunt will meet with San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, who presented to owners last week on local stadium progress. LINE: Chiefs -3. O/U: 45ABOUT 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. I’m sure it’s possible since there isn’t a lot of good teams in the league this year but shooting for 10 is a much safer bet.

So, with it looking like the Chargers will miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, the only thing left to do is celebrate L.T.’s brilliant run with the Chargers.

More than ever, the Chargers will be reliant upon Philip Rivers’ greatness offensively. It’s another homecoming at Qualcomm Stadium for Smith, who led Helix to consecutive San Diego Section championships before going to Utah, which at the time was rival of San Diego State in Mountain West Conference….

He joins Dan Fouts (14), Lance Alworth (19) and Junior Seau (55) in having their numbers retired. San Diego is already missing its leading pass catcher, Keenan Allen, because of a lacerated kidney. Dating to the third quarter of a Week 3 loss at Green Bay, he’s thrown 228 consecutive passes without an interception.

FAST FACTS: Smith needs six more attempts without an interception to break Steve DeBerg’s franchise record. Over the last three games, West is averaging 22 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, and three receptions for 45 yards.

And he might be in trouble again on Sunday. A fifth-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, O’Shaughnessy finished his rookie season playing in seven games with three starts, and he had six catches for 87 yards.

The Kansas City defense allowed the Vikings only 128 yards and two field goals in the second half. The Chiefs even intercepted backup Brock Osweiler once after he came into the game.

Houston has 7 1/2 sacks.

The beleaguered Bolts play AFC West foes five times in their last seven games: KC and Denver twice, and a Christmas Eve game at Oakland, which embarrassed the Chargers in San Diego on October 25. Eric Weddle leads the Chargers with 56 tackles, Melvin Ingram has four sacks and Brandon Flowers has four pass deflections. Although it may be too early to look ahead, the attitude towards this year’s Chiefs season has done a complete 180 as they climbed out of their seemingly disastrous early hole. Chiefs coach Andy Reid has stressed the importance of defensive coordinator this week with San Diego typically featuring a wide variety of formations and alignments.