The Chargers suffered a 38-10 loss at home tonight against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Injuries were a huge piece of this loss, down five Pro Bowlers with an injured Quarterback. Another issue with the Charger’s performance tonight was the offensive play calling by Joe Lombardi. The Bolts were outplayed and outcoached tonight, in an all-around team loss. Here are three takeaways from the Chargers vs Jags matchup:
The Chargers need to get healthy
No one expects to perform well when five of your nine pro bowlers aren’t on the field. The Chargers got absolutely wrecked with injuries in a tragic loss at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. A statement game to the depth of the Chargers, they need to get healthy if they expect to make any type of run into the postseason.
Justin Herbert seemed to be feeling his rib injury today as well. Herbert threw a lot of off-target balls to wide receivers throughout the game. He completed only 55% of his throws today for 297 yards and one touchdown. Brandon Staley responded to questions about why he kept his franchise Quarterback on the field in a sure loss. “He wanted to finish the game with his teammates.” This is not a game you should play with the face of your team, a rookie mistake by the second-year head coach.
Joe Lombardi should be on the hot seat
“We couldn’t establish a rhythm offensively. We just haven’t blocked at the point of attack or in pass protection well enough” said Coach Brandon Staley. I have been beating it like a dead horse for three weeks, play calling needs to improve. It took the Chargers until the third quarter to execute a play over 20 yards. The offense was unable to gain any sort of momentum tonight against Jacksonville, mainly because of Lombardi’s play calling.
The team also needs to improve their run game, after a break-out year in 2021, Ekeler has been a non-factor through the first three games. Lombardi was able to turn his conservative play calling around last season, but if he does not start attacking defenses continuously throughout games, his job may be in question.
Run defense is not as improved as we thought
The Chargers have been able to hold opposing running attacks to under 100 yards in their last two games. This may sound contradictory to the previous point, but that was only because the offense was able to put points on the board early. Teams were forced to give up on the run early in games because they were playing from behind. However, the opposing running backs were able to run the ball with ease against this Chargers defense. They allowed 6.9 YPC to opposing starting Running Backs over the last three games. Although a lot of these averages are skewed by big runs, you have to be able to get off the field on key downs.
Bright Spot:
Joshua Palmer continued to show improvement in today’s game, catching six passes for 99 yards.
The Chargers look on to two straight road games against Houston and Cleveland. They open up as -6.5 point favorites against the Texans. With a stretch of winnable games before the break, the Chargers can’t afford to drop these games early in the year.
Check out this tribute to Marty Schottenheimer! This Day in Charger’s History: Marty Schottenheimer
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