The Chargers’ Defense Has Shown Some Surprising Improvement

Everyone has been talking about how poor the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense has been this season, and it has struggled inexplicably despite all the preseason excitement and hype about new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

They rank 30th in points and lead the NFL with 15 turnovers, and their execution has been abysmal. That is a major reason they entered their bye this week with a 0-6 record.

But while the Chargers haven’t been world-beaters on defense either, they have shown some improvement in that category. New defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary has gotten this team to hold its own at times on defense, allowing it to at least have a chance to win some games.

Where the Chargers have shown promise on defense

Overall, Los Angeles is 22nd in points allowed and 17th in total yards allowed. But its pass defense hasn’t been too shabby, as it ranks ninth in passing yards given up and seventh in passing touchdowns given up.

This past Sunday, it held Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, who is having his best season in a few years, without a single touchdown pass. He had at least two touchdown passes in each of his four other games so far this season.

In Week 3 versus the Buffalo Bills, L.A. corralled Josh Allen, who is arguably the NFL’s best quarterback, into completing 16 of 26 passing attempts and no touchdown passes. It harassed Allen into throwing two interceptions, and it forced five turnovers in that game.

Overall, the Chargers are fifth in turnovers forced, and they have been able to get stops in some key situations, as they’re fifth in opponents’ third-down conversion percentage and sixth in opponents’ red zone touchdown percentage.

They’re also eighth in defensive success rate at 44.4% and tied for 12th in defensive EPA at -0.028.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh likes what he has seen from O’Leary this far.

“He’s doing a great job. The defense is doing a great job. We’re going to ask them to do more,” Harbaugh said this week, via Chargers.com.

The expectation was that O’Leary would blitz more this season than Jesse Minter, his predecessor, did during the previous two years. It hasn’t fully materialized yet — the Chargers have 11 sacks as a team, which is 21st in the NFL — but there does seem to be something for them to build on defensively.

“A lot of it is figuring out what our guys are good at,” O’Leary said last week about his overall comfort level. “It’s like, ‘Hey, you make this call and you think it’s going to play out one way, and it plays out a different way. Or you call this and you’re not sure and then all of a sudden they execute it.’

“It’s like that mesh of being tied in with what I’m thinking and envisioning, and how the players are executing it. That’s been the biggest thing,” O’Leary continued. “It’s not a complete picture yet, we’re not perfect, but that’s kind of where we’re going.

“What I feel a little better about is how I’m meshing with the players and what we’re calling,” O’Leary added.

After having this week off, the Chargers will play against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 1. The Rams were expected to be sizable favorites to win the Super Bowl championship, but they have struggled to a 2-4 start, and wide receiver Davante Adams is now out for possibly the balance of the season with a hamstring injury, while quarterback Matthew Stafford’s level of play has dropped after winning the NFL MVP last year.

Perhaps the Bolts’ defense will have a level of success versus the Rams on that day.