Chargers @ Chiefs Week 7 Game Preview

Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs

Oh baby, what a matchup this is. If it weren’t for the Dolphins-Eagles showdown on Sunday Night Football, this would be the game of the week. Both the Chargers and the Chiefs are among the NFL’s most efficient passing offenses, and this game has the second-highest over/under of the week, so there should be plenty of points and fantasy production to go around.

This game is much more important to Los Angeles than it is to Kansas City, as the 2-3 Chargers could be in danger of falling out of playoff contention with another loss this week. After losing to the Cowboys at home on Monday Night Football, the Chargers must now travel to Kansas City and take on Patrick Mahomes & Co., which isn't exactly an ideal bounce-back spot.

That task will be made even more difficult by a stout Chiefs defense that's done a good job at limiting opponents this season. No team has scored more than 21 points in a game against Kansas City in 2023, though that could be poised to change if this game plays out as expected.

The Chargers' struggles are at least partly to blame on injury. Austin Ekeler missed Weeks 2 to 4 with an ankle injury, and the team lost Mike Williams to a season-ending knee injury in Week 3. Ekeler is now back and primed for a big workload after having handled 82% of the team's rush attempts and a 15% target share in Week 6.

Both Ekeler and Keenan Allen are among the elite fantasy options at their respective positions with Ekeler checking in as the overall No. 1 RB and Allen as the No. 4 WR this week in the Fantasy Life consensus rankings.

But beyond those two, it's hard to project which other Charger(s) will deliver some fantasy value from week to week, though Gerald Everett and Josh Palmer remain the most likely candidates.

For the Chiefs, they have to be happy with their 5-1 start, especially considering that the offense hasn’t really hit their stride yet with just one game of more than 27 points.

Mahomes is of course in your lineup and is the No. 2 QB on the week for our rankers. In the backfield, Isiah Pacheco is approaching elite usage, having averaged 20 opportunities per game (carries + targets) since Week 3. That makes Pacheco a solid RB1 option against a Chargers defense that has given up points across the board. And as usual, Travis Kelce is the overall No. 1 TE on the week.

But as with Los Angeles, it's hard to determine which Kansas City WR will produce behind Kelce from week to week. The only WR who's consistently run more than 60% of the routes through six games has been Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but he has yet to reach 7.0 PPR points in any game this season and is basically unplayable in all formats.

I’m a big believer that Rashee Rice will emerge as the Chiefs' No. 1 WR sooner rather than later, but it's tough to start the rookie with confidence right now. Rice has seen just a 4.9-yard average depth of target (aDOT) and a low 13% target share over the past three games. That being said, I’ll definitely still be sprinkling in some Rice across my DFS and Underdog Battle Royale lineups with the hope that this will be the week it all comes together for him.

The Chiefs are 5.5-point favorites at home, and I have very little faith that the Chargers can put together a complete performance to pull off the road upset. However, I do think that Los Angeles can at least put enough points on the scoreboard to make this game the shootout that fantasy managers are hoping for.