Bolts respect Chiefs stand-in QB
And so, here we are again.
The Chargers need to win the season’s last game to reach the playoffs.
The Chiefs, same as last year, are the opponent.
Stranger yet, the Chiefs are calling upon the same career backup, quarterback Chase Daniel.
Daniel, the Chargers learned Friday, will start Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium because $68-million quarterback Alex Smith, the starter in all 15 games this year, was ruled out with a lacerated spleen.
Smith suffered the injury in last Sunday’s game, but not until Friday morning did the Chiefs make his injury known.
“It was a little bit of a shock,” Chargers linebacker Jarret Johnson said. “We learned about it on the news when we got in today. It’s a little bit odd for it to be that late in the week.”
Oddsmakers had favored the Chiefs by 2.5 points; Friday, several betting lines dropped them to a one-point favorite.
The Chargers know Daniel, 28, as a playmaker who nearly dealt them what would’ve been a stinging defeat.
At Qualcomm Stadium last year, playing because the Chiefs wanted Smith healthy for the playoffs, the 6-foot, 225-pounder completed 21 of 30 for 200 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.
He rushed for 59 yards -- 8.4 per carry -- and seemed to surprise Chargers defenders with his speed and agility.
Ryan Succop missed a 41-yard kick that would’ve given the Chiefs a victory, and the Chargers parlayed overtime into a 27-24 win and a Wild Card berth.
It remains Daniel’s only start in six seasons. Citing the performance Friday, the quarterback said he’ll be “a little more settled” than he was going into last year’s start.
Daniel said he’s “ecstatic” about the chance, though he also said he didn’t find out until Thursday night, from coach Andy Reid, that Smith would be out.
“What I am most excited about, is going out there playing a full game, getting into a little bit of a rhythm, getting the calls in and out,” Daniel told reporters in Kansas City. “We have a sharp game plan this week, we are excited about it, and it was great to get out here on Friday and really go over the entire game plan.”
Preparing for Daniel was the same as preparing for Smith, said several Chargers defenders.
“They’re not going to scrap their whole offense, just because they’re changing quarterbacks,” Johnson said. “So, you simply prepare for what they’ve done in the past, and that includes last year’s game.”
Though Daniel has thrown only one pass this season, Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers said he expects the quarterback to have a handle on Kansas City’s offense because Reid folded him into the first team in several practices when Flowers was with the Chiefs last year.
Flowers also predicted that Daniel will be assertive.
“I know him, he’s a fiery guy,” he said. “He can make all of the plays. And this is his moment. He feels like this is his moment.”
Like Philip Rivers, whose 144th consecutive start will come against him Sunday, Daniel is a former NFL backup to Drew Brees.
He earned that role with the Saints after he went undrafted out of Missouri.
Bringing him to Kansas City two offseasons ago, Reid and Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey signed him to a three-year, $10 million deal.
But they bet the franchise on Smith, twice. Dorsey traded two premium draft picks to get Smith in 2013, and days before this season began, he signed him to a four-year deal worth up to $68 million.
Smith’s career win-loss record is 57-47-1.
Because the 6-foot-4 Smith is taller than Daniel, he doesn’t need to set up as deep to see over the middle. That’s helpful to both Chiefs tackles, who are each below average (notably right tackle Ryan Harris).
Smith is likely quicker and faster than Daniel: 4.71 in the 40-yard dash and 3.97 in the 20-yard shuttle in 2005, when the 49ers drafted him first overall, compared to Daniel’s 4.90 and 4.31 in ’09.
Heeding Smith’s request, Reid designed zone-read rushes and fakes for him.
Smith’s rush dimension tempered the pursuit of backside defenders. That accentuated the cutback skills of running back Jamaal Charles.
But Daniel isn’t anchored to the pocket, having rushed for 1,000 yards as a Missouri senior.
Daniel has small hands, potentially making him more prone to fumbles. Yet if he throws one touchdown pass to a Chiefs wide receiver Sunday, that’d be one more than Smith threw this season.
“We definitely can’t go out there thinking it’s going to be any kind of dropoff,” Flowers said. “Chase is a very good quarterback.
“They both can scramble. They’re not going to throw a lot of interceptions. They’re very well-coached. To me, it’s almost like we’ll be facing the same guy out there.”
Where last December the Chiefs went into the Week 17 match knowing they were playoff-bound -- they rested 20 starters -- they know Sunday that must beat San Diego and get wins from the Browns and Jaguars to return to the playoffs.
“Quite honestly I wouldn’t rather have it any other way than to be put in a situation to go out there with everything on the line,” Daniel said.
The Chargers have reasons to believe they’ll again punch their playoff ticket against Kansas City.
Their defense is far healthier, for example, than when the teams met in October.
Chargers center Nick Hardwick, speaking to the team’s flagship radio station Friday afternoon, forecast Mike McCoy’s team returning to Lindbergh Field with a playoff berth.
“I expect them to overwhelm this team--eventually,” Hardwick said.
