Chargers can't run out of time

Darren McFadden gained 97 of the Raiders' 251 rushing yards last Sunday.
Darren McFadden gained 97 of the Raiders' 251 rushing yards last Sunday. — K.C. Alfred

Mostly stymieing Tennessee’s Chris Johnson aside, the Chargers’ performance against top running teams should not inspire confidence.

The Chargers were third in the NFL against the run going into last week and are a more-than-respectable fifth now. The Raiders, who have done it twice, are one of just five teams to have gained 100 yards rushing against the Chargers this season.

But a closer look reveals a severe discrepancy between how the Chargers have feasted on teams that don’t/can’t run and have been clobbered by the running elite.

The Chargers have faced the four worst running teams in the NFL and allowed them an average of 50.5 yards per game. They allowed No.12 Tennessee, No.13 New England and No.20 St. Louis an average of 77.7 yards.

Frighteningly, in five games against four of the NFL’s top-seven running teams, the Chargers have allowed an average of 141.6 yards per game.

“We’ve stopped some good backs,” Phillips said. “It’s just that if a team runs the ball enough, and we’re not playing at our best they can have some success. K.C. can be the same way.”

The Chargers have clung to their No.1 ranking as a defense all season, at first acknowledging it was something of a mirage but growing to believe it was valid and they were being disrespected.

Then came last week, what more than one of them called a “beat down” and to a man forced them to acknowledge they had been overpowered.

“They played more physical than us,” Phillips said. “There is no hiding behind anything.”

As Phillips spoke, Notorious B.I.G. blared from the speakers above Phillips’ locker. “Machine Gun Funk” is a song about, ostensibly, girls and guns. There is a line toward the end, and Phillips yelled it, among other stanzas: “I’ll make you prove that it’s bulletproof.”

That’s what the Chiefs will do. Sunday will not win the West for the Chargers, but it can keep them alive if they can stop the run.


