Another year, another playoff disappointment for a franchise that seems to have them in abundance. THE Los Angeles ChargersThe season ended badly during the wild card round, losing 16-3 in a meager performance against a New England Patriots team nor was it playing their best football.
All of the issues that have hampered the Chargers this season were on full display alongside a lackluster performance from the star quarterback. Justin Herbert as they limped to another disheartening playoff finish. As the quarterback and face of the team, Herbert will attract the ire of many talking heads who pin everything on him. The truth is that this is a failure that encompasses just about everyone involved and will require a real look in the mirror. this offseason.
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Injuries are one area the Chargers constantly struggle with. For the second straight season, their offensive line was crushed by injuries. All-Pro Talent Rashawn Slater was lost for the season in early August, Joe Alt battled injuries before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery in early November and a backup Trey Pipkins III missed a few games while playing injured in several others. This isn’t a sustainable situation in the modern NFL with the talent and athleticism of the starting seven, but it’s a disappointing end to the season nonetheless. first round running back Omarion Hampton also missed games throughout the season and never really recovered upon returning And free agent Najee Harris was placed on injured reserve with season-ending injuries early in the season.
Justin Herbert took considerable punishment in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots in the AFC wild-card round. (David Butler II-Imagn Images)
(IMAGINE IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS)
It seems to happen to this team as much, if not more, than any other, but unpredictable health fluctuations really limited what the Chargers could accomplish. This doesn’t absolve the play of Herbert or any of the talented players, but they were playing with guys out of position and shooting so deep on the depth chart that it was quality preseason offensive line play from time to time.
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Los Angeles entered the playoffs playing by razor-thin margins that aren’t possible to convert into wins at this point. The Chargers also haven’t received any offensive answers from Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman to alleviate some of these issues. There isn’t much to do in late-game comeback scenarios, but Roman once again struggles to put together a consistent passing game and even a rookie feel. Ladd McConkey experienced a serious drop in production in year two with the Chargers.
Beyond the health of their players and adding talent through the draft and free agency, the Chargers need to tinker with their plan for what this offense will look like if they want to have sustained postseason success. Right now, they could benefit from an overhaul of the passing game while continuing to build their collection of young receivers. Even though Herbert hasn’t played his best games in the playoffs, he still has the talent to go on a deep run and three games in the playoffs is only three games. His entire career sample size indicates that he remains one of the best quarterbacks in the league and there is no reason to worry that he can’t do that. There is still one long There’s a long way to go in the 27-year-old’s career, and given the Chargers’ overall competence, they will be competing for the playoffs for years to come.
The good news is that they absolutely have something great going on defense, given that coordinator Jesse Minter isn’t taking care of it. head coach position this offseason. Minter’s defense has held up its end of the bargain and the Chargers have done a great job developing some of the young talent on this team over the past two seasons. It’s up to the offense and its ultra-talented quarterback and historically successful head coach to right the ship so they can maximize this current window.
Games like Sunday make it seem like they’re further away than they actually are, but they still need a few uncertain and unknown elements to come to fruition in a big way before they’re ready to make that run people have been waiting for.
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Sometimes it’s not your year. Sometimes it doesn’t someone year. That’s how the Chargers felt last night and now they’re heading into what should be a busy offseason with their league-leading projected salary cap hit of $109 million.
