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The national media is in love with us right now. We’ve started to shed our image and history as the team that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. They love Herbert. They love Staley. It’s all love right now. They are climbing over each other to get on the bandwagonComment
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The moment we lose a game, I bet you the media will start saying the “same ol’ Chargers” or “pretender” :2cents:Originally posted by jamrock View PostComment
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TSN Canada presents CLE/LAC Sunday.
I don't believe it !
First time I have the Chargers games 4 out of 5 on tv.Comment
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Popper's mailbag today. He also answers some questions about Josh Palmer and Tre McKitty.
The Chargers (3-1) host the Browns (3-1) on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium.
Some injury news before we get into your questions:
Defensive back Chris Harris Jr., who has not played since Week 1 because of a shoulder injury, is listed as questionable for this game. But it appears as though he is in line to play.
“Barring any setback, I think he should play,” coach Brandon Staley said Friday.
This would be a huge development for the Chargers defense. Harris would not have any limitations if he is active, Staley said. That means Harris would be back in his usual role of playing outside cornerback in base packages, slot corner in regular nickel packages and safety in big nickel packages.
Running back Justin Jackson is listed as doubtful with a groin injury. Joshua Kelley, who has not been active yet, would be up for this game if Jackson cannot go. Jackson was also dealing with a groin issue in training camp.
Cornerback Ryan Smith, who has been on IR all season with a core muscle injury, is expected to be activated for Sunday “barring a setback,” according to Staley. The Chargers have 52 players on their active roster, so Smith, an excellent special-teams player, would take that open spot.
The Browns have 10 players listed as questionable for this game, including starting defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett and starting left tackle Jedrick Wills. Starting center JC Tretter, cornerback Denzel Ward, cornerback Troy Hill and tight end David Njoku are also questionable. Wills (ankle) has yet to play a full game this season. Rookie cornerback Greg Newsome, Rashawn Slater’s teammate at Northwestern, has been ruled out.
You ask. I answer.
It’s the mailbag.
Do you think the defensive game plan will/should change now that we’re facing a team whose run game is more threatening than its passing game? — @davidanagy3
Staley’s overarching defensive philosophy of, first and foremost, preventing explosive passes will not change from week to week. However, each week’s game plan is specifically tailored to the opponent. For instance, last week against the Raiders, Staley expected Jon Gruden to attempt to run the ball. The Chargers had struggled to stop the run in their first three games, particularly against the Cowboys. They made defending the run a priority in the game plan and practice all week. Defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill said he and the coaching staff put extra emphasis on executing run fits during walk-throughs. And the Chargers performed, holding the Raiders to just 48 yards on the ground.
More than anything, the Chargers just played with more physicality, especially along the defensive line. Linval Joseph and Christian Covington were outstanding. Jerry Tillery played a lot better and showed more want-to against double teams. On top of that, linebackers Drue Tranquill and Kyzir White tackled extremely well. It was a cohesive showing from the first and second levels of the run defense.
The Browns are an elite rushing team. They have one of the best offensive lines in football. They have perhaps the best one-two backfield punch in the league in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. And coach Kevin Stefanski is one of the best run schemers of any offensive play caller in the NFL.
Staley is keenly aware of how effective the Browns are on the ground. And that will surely factor into the game plan. But Baker Mayfield is still a very capable quarterback when playing well, even with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, and Odell Beckham Jr. is still a major threat at all three levels of the field.
“You can’t ignore the pass against this team because they’re very dangerous,” Staley said. “You have to treat the passing game with the same amount of attention that you normally do, but what’s different about this team is the way they run the football and how they run it. They have a lot more types of runs than most teams, and they run it out of a lot of different personnel groupings. So you multiply the amount of runs that you’re facing.
“This week’s just a little bit different because of the volume of runs and quality of the runs, and then the quality of the runners. And that’s why they’re a very balanced team, and I think that’s what makes them a dangerous team, because this guy throwing the football can really throw it.”
Mayfield is coming off one of his worst games as a pro. He completed just 15 of his 33 passes in an ugly win over the Vikings. But over the first three weeks of the season, Mayfield ranked 12th among quarterbacks in expected points added per dropback, according to TruMedia.
“When they’ve needed to throw it with Baker Mayfield, they can throw it, and we have so much respect for their weapons,” Staley said. “For us, that’s been our approach this week, is that the run game is a big part of what they do, but the passing game and how they throw the football is also unique because of their keepers, screens, play-(action) pass. They throw the ball different than a traditional dropback team that’s 40 to 50 high-volume throws. The quality of their throws is different, and it’s dangerous because their pass design goes a long way without there being a lot of risk.”
Make no mistake about it, though: The Chargers will have to limit the run to win this game. Chubb and Hunt are particularly adept at breaking tackles. Hunt is second in the league in yards after contact per rush this season at 3.84 yards, according to TruMedia. Chubb is fifth, 3.49 yards.
This is especially the case in the fourth quarter. Chubb is averaging an outrageous league-best 8.35 yards per carry in the fourth quarter since the start of 2020. Chubb also leads the league in yards after contact per rush in the fourth quarter since the start of 2020 at 6.54. No other player is averaging more than 5 yards after contact per rush in the fourth quarter over that span. This season, Hunt leads the league in yards per rush after contact in the fourth quarter at 5.29.
They are a formidable duo. The Browns lead the league in EPA/rush this season, according to TruMedia.
What can the Chargers possibly do to limit Myles Garrett from absolutely owning Storm Norton? — @mattyb530
There is plenty the Chargers can do schematically to help out right tackle Storm Norton against Garrett and Clowney. Norton, to his credit, has rebounded admirably from a tough game against Micah Parsons and the Cowboys. He allowed only two pressures against the Chiefs, according to Pro Football Focus. And while Norton allowed six pressures against the Raiders, only one of those resulted in a hit on Justin Herbert. And watching the tape, I thought Norton held his own against Maxx Crosby and Carl Nassib.
Garrett is on a different level, though. He might be the best pass rusher in football. So the Chargers will need to help Norton, which they have been doing regularly over the past two weeks. That means keeping a tight end inline to chip on a rusher or sending a running back to the right side after the snap to double team a rusher and take some of the weight off Norton.
Slater’s solid play in pass protection so far this season on the left side gives the Chargers more flexibility. He can be trusted on an island, even against pass rushers as good as Garrett and Clowney. The Chargers can divert their chipping resources to the right side to help Norton avoid disaster.
And just like last week, Herbert will be getting the ball out quickly to mitigate the rush. Checkdowns to running backs. Quick flat routes to tight ends. Slants and shallow stop routes to wide receivers. I expect you will see a lot of that from the Chargers passing attack this week.
Will McKitty and Palmer see more playing time in the foreseeable future? — @Maxi_Muench
The Chargers selected wide receiver Joshua Palmer and tight end Tre’ McKitty with their two third-round picks in the draft, and neither player has made much of an impact through four games. Palmer has played just 16.7 percent of the Chargers’ offensive snaps so far this season. And McKitty has been inactive for all four games.
Palmer had a really good training camp and preseason. But right now, the Chargers are a little starved for speed among their offensive personnel. Jalen Guyton is the only true speed receiver on their roster, and I think that is primarily why he is getting snaps over Palmer. Guyton runs in the 4.3s, while Palmer ran a 4.52 at his pro day. Mike Williams is certainly a deep threat, but he achieves that with his releases, big body and catch radius more than straight-line speed.
McKitty is fourth on the depth chart right now behind Jared Cook, Donald Parham and Stephen Anderson. I do not think this is necessarily a knock on McKitty. Those three tight ends are all playing at a high level. Parham, in particular, has made a big jump this season. His route running has been really impressive, and he is much improved as an inline blocker. Anderson is providing a ton of versatility. He is lining up as a fullback and has played around 40 percent of the special-teams snaps.
McKitty also had arthroscopic knee surgery in September of last year, and some knee soreness flared up in training camp. He has been wearing a sleeve on his leg. That is part of the equation, as well.
“We’re really high on Tre’ McKitty,” Staley said this week. “A lot of it was that we wanted to make sure that he was full speed coming off of the year he had last year. He had a knee injury, kind of came back quickly and played the full year. He went to a bowl game, Senior Bowl and that whole thing. We want to make sure that he’s full speed. That was important to me. He showed himself to me that he’s capable of doing the job.
“It’s just making sure that they’re ready for their action. He’s certainly going to play this season for us. … A lot of times at the beginning of the year, you’re still trying to figure out the exact role that you want them in. I think that’s given us some time here because of those other three guys … that we can kind of get Tre’ doing the right jobs for when he does play for us. … We’re really high on Tre’, and I think he’s going to be a quality player for us.”
It might be some time before we see McKitty playing significant snaps. Palmer has a more direct line to playing time in the immediate future.
What are your thoughts on the Chargers play in the third quarter? — @manthony9494
The Chargers’ third-quarter stats are pretty ugly. They have been outscored 35-3 in the third quarter through four games, including 28-0 over the last two weeks. And yet they are still 3-1 on the season.
The issues, to me, are more defensive than offensive. I know they have scored only three third-quarter points, but the Raiders and Chiefs each executed two touchdown drives against the Chargers in the third quarter. The Chargers offense had only one full possession in the third quarter of each of the past two games. And the numbers support this. In the first, second and fourth quarters this season, the Chargers defense ranks second in the league in EPA/play, according to TruMedia. In the third quarter, it ranks dead last.
This comes down to defensive lapses coming out of halftime. A big part of that is the Chargers have built big leads against the Chiefs and Raiders, two high-powered offenses. And those offenses have come out firing to get back in the game.
But this is a concerning trend. We will see if it continues Sunday against the Browns.
Who are some superstars from this coaching staff we aren’t talking about? — @TT_850
I think the Chargers’ secondary coaches deserve some shine considering how that group has played despite some key injuries. Nasir Adderley has taken the necessary jump this season. Asante Samuel Jr. is having a really good start to his rookie season. Michael Davis is coming off his best game of the year. Derwin James is, well, Derwin James. And with Harris out, Tevaughn Campbell has entered the lineup as the slot corner and played outstanding football the past two weeks.
Hill was a safety in the league and a defensive backs coach with the Broncos before joining Staley’s staff. This is his specialty. He deserves a ton of credit. But so do secondary coach Derrick Ansley, assistant secondary coach Tom Donatell and defensive quality control coach Isaac Shewmaker. That group has done a great job of getting the most out of these defensive backs through four games. The Chargers rank fourth in pass defense DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency metric.Comment
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It’s very surprising and nice to see Nwosu right there with Von Miller in that chart with QB pressure rate, while facing significantly more double teams! I believe this somewhat illustrates in a way what Staley mentions as illusion versus reality. The reality is that Nwosu is a better pass rusher than he gets credit for.Originally posted by equivocation View PostComment
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Maybe. I think it will depend on *how* the game is lost.Originally posted by CivilBolt View Post
Blowing a big lead? You betcha!
Losing to a clearly inferior opponent? Yep!
Having the clear opportunity to win the game, and flat out failing to capitalize? Of course!
Time management issues played a key role in the loss? Uh huh.
Loss by placekicker suckage? I would expect so!
There are plenty of other ways to lose games, though, and if the Chargers just plain get outplayed on a certain Sunday, I don't think the media will instantly go into flamethrower mode.
This squad is certainly capable of losing. It isn't athletically superior to every other club it will face. But if Brandon Staley can continue the trend of helping the team Not Beat Itself, then what used to be a 7-9 record can become a 10-6, or 11-5 record. And that's usually good enough to qualify for the postseason. Can't get a title without getting to the playoffs first...Comment
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I could not give less fucks about what east coast national media thinks about the Chargers. Some of the posts here sound like high school dads wanting the beat writer to gush about their kid in the Saturday edition so they can show their coworkers down at the plant.
Fuck Media, the industry is corrupt to its core and everyone knows it. Its Pravda without the awareness. Stop respecting it with your concern or it will never change. It may never change anyway but at least you’ll respect yourself a bit more“Less is more? NO NO NO - MORE is MORE!”Comment
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This is all true, though it feels nice to be recognized after years of abject mockery.Originally posted by dmac_bolt View Post
The fastest way to gain real recognition is to beat the spread.Our quarterback is a golden god.Comment
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Respectfully, that's... "fewer fucks".. You could not give FEWER FUCKS, not "less fucks".Originally posted by dmac_bolt View Post
You're welcome. Just doing my part for gooder communication in this forum. <wink>Comment
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