Los Angeles Chargers Defense Starting to Look Formidable

The Los Angeles Chargers revamped their defense this offseason in hopes of putting an end to their three-year postseason drought.

The new-look Los Angeles Chargers defense is built to win a championship.

However, they are a team that has fallen short of expectations in recent years. In 2018, the Chargers finished 12-4 – tied for the best record in the AFC with the Kansas City Chiefs. But Andy Reid’s club won a division title and the Bolts were relegated to wild card status. Los Angeles came away with a playoff victory at Baltimore but were then manhandled at Foxborough by the eventual Super Bowl LIII champion Patriots.

But instead of building on that successful year, the past three seasons all rank as disappointments. The team plummeted to 5-11 in 2019 and followed that up with a 7-9 showing. That would be the end of head coach Anthony Lynn’s four-year stint with the club.

Enter former Rams’ defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. The Bolts did finish with a winning mark in 2021. But a 9-8 win-loss record just wasn’t enough to get the team in the postseason. There was plenty of blame to go around. But Los Angeles’ defensive unit was shaky throughout the year, quite the surprise considering Staley’s 2020 resume with the Rams. The club finished 23rd in the league in total defense, allowed the second-most rushing yards in the NFL and gave up 49 offensive touchdowns.

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Defensive Overhaul Time For The Chargers

This offseason, the team swung one of the bigger trades of 2022 when they acquired edge rusher, Khalil Mack, from the Chicago Bears. The fifth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the then-Oakland Raiders and the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year with the Silver and Black returns to the AFC West.

General manager Tom Telesco gave up huge bucks to acquire the services of bull-hawking cornerback J.C. Jackson from the New England Patriots. And speaking of Bill Belichick’s team, the Chargers recently added versatile linebacker Kyle Van Noy – cut loose by the Pats earlier this year.

The club also beefed up the interior of the defensive front by adding Austin Johnson (Giants) and Sebastian Joseph-Day (Rams). And veteran cornerback Bryce Callahan (Broncos) was a nice addition as well.

Of course, Staley’s team kicks off 2022 vs. the same team that ended their 2021 campaign. The Raiders’ 35-32 Sunday night overtime win in Week 18 knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs. Four days later, there’s a clash with the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in prime time. That’s quite the early acid test for Staley’s revamped defense.