The Chargers have a make-or-break divisional game next for their second straight Sunday Night Football appearance.
Realistically, they must win this week versus the Chiefs to keep their hopes of winning the division alive. It’s a tough ask against a Kansas City team that is 6-3 against Los Angeles since 2018.
Here are four reasons to be concerned about the Bolts’ ability to get it done.
Vulnerable to the explosives
This is a Chargers defense that cannot seem to get out of its way and a Chiefs offense that has thrived on the explosive play since Patrick Mahomes became the starter in Kansas City. The Chiefs are third in the league with 6.4 yards per play, which has propelled them to the top of the leaderboard in offensive DVOA. While the rushing attack is just 20th by DVOA, Los Angeles gave up 9.3 yards per carry to Clyde Edwards-Helaire when these teams met in Week 2. That was before Jerry Tillery was waived and Austin Johnson, Otito Ogbonnia, and Christian Covington were lost for the season with injuries. The pass defense looks competent except for a few plays a game where they lose track of a receiver, and quarterbacks like Mahomes rarely miss those chances.
Inconsistent playcalling
Joe Lombardi has been lambasted by Chargers fans this season, and I get why. I’ve tried to take the middle road because of the injuries plaguing this team on offense. Justin Herbert has been dealing with his rib cartilage fracture. RB2, WR1, WR2, WR3, WR4, TE1, TE2, and three starters on the offensive line have missed time. But Lombardi does deserve blame for one thing, and that’s Los Angeles’ inability to craft a cohesive game plan. Sometimes, the offense brings out some genuinely creative run concepts and schemes Austin Ekeler into advantageous situations despite the OL situation. Those games are also the ones in which the passing game feels stagnant, and Herbert has to do everything himself to even give the offense a chance. When Lombardi fixes those issues, as he did last week against the 49ers, the run game immediately evaporates. It’s almost as though what this team wants to do running the ball and what they want to do passing it are fundamentally incongruent. If that continues on Sunday, it’ll be hard for L.A. to overcome.
Gassed defense
The Chargers are 26th in the league in opponent time of possession; Los Angeles’ opponents have the ball, on average, for 51.63% of the game. That’s resulted in some obvious moments of exhaustion for the defense,…
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