What Is Wrong With the Chargers?
Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff, USA Today
Coaching. One simple word describes a large percentage of the problems the Chargers are having. Brandon Staley was already a touchy subject after his failure in the playoffs last season, but his hot seat has grown so warm this season that fans are calling for a midseason firing. Both sides of the ball have struggles in their own ways, and very few times this season has the team played complimentary football. The question stands: Is there any way to fix this?
Defense
The defense was the primary and obvious issue in the Chargers loss to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-17 this past weekend. The pass coverage allowed Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to put up 424 yards on 32 completions with four touchdowns and one interception. The interception was the only bright spot the defense had to build off of, but after giving Kelce 179 yards on 12 receptions, it was not nearly enough. The Chargers defense has certainly not been strong throughout the season, but it is certainly better than this, right?
No one can really know because the defense can never achieve anything running formations like this. Staley has been playing this defense all year. By playing prevent constantly, Staley might be taking multiple big plays away, but he is leaving the intermediate routes open so that offenses can walk down the field. Even Tony Romo constantly commented that the zone was not working for the Chargers, but no adjustments were made throughout the game. Using his personnel in this way is purely on Staley.
Offense
The offense, though certainly better, is facing a very similar problem. In almost every game this season, the offense has been consistent throughout the first half, but their second half struggles have defined them this season. This was no different in the game versus the Chiefs this past weekend, where the offense went toe to toe with Mahomes and the Chiefs for the first half and even through the early third quarter. But as the game went on, the offense stalled constantly.
This, too, in many ways can be chalked up to the coaching. Kellen Moore has seemed to call aggressive plays during the beginning of games, but suddenly he takes his foot off the gas as the game goes on. His inconsistency as a play caller as caused the offense to become inconsistent as well. At one point, the offense took the field and ran three straight times, almost immediately punting after a three and out. This is something a team with Justin Herbert at quarterback should never do, but even more so when you are down in a football game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Conclusion
The blame does not merely rest on the coaches. The defense might have been initially hyped up more than they should have, with a lot of big names and not a lot of chemistry and consistency. Add injuries to this mix, and the defense will certainly underperform compared to expectations. Simultaneously, Justin Herbert has been off the past few weeks. Whether it has anything to do with his fractured finger or not is completely speculation, but his play has certainly regressed. Add to this the offensive line’s struggle to create a solid run game, and the offense is bound to struggle.
Even with the players struggling to live up to the hype of the preseason, though, it is primarily the coaching that has allowed these issues to remain. A bad usage of personnel, inconsistent and inept play calling on both sides of the ball, and a few baffling decisions from the head coach have plagued this team. What is worse is that the team cannot even agree amongst itself what the issues really are.
While blame can be handed out to just about everyone, it rests primarily on the job the coaches have done. Because of this, the fan perception has changed from an exciting playoff team to a team that needs to fire its coaches and trade away a few big names to prepare for the future.
