Coach Staley Discussion - Fired

[Heatmiser]

I hear you on the stats, but to me I thought with Staley we were getting a Belicheck level genius when it came to defense. I don't care about points allowed or yards allowed or number of sacks. My measure is does the defense shut down the other team. Doesn't have to be 85 Bears or 70s Steel Curtain or Orange Crush. Want a defense like Belicheck's that quietly stops the other team. What we got was actually, and it pains me to write this, a step back from Gus Bradley in year one and an uneven and certainly not dominating defense so far in year 2. Really counting on Staley to make this a dominant defense.

TG

[Velo]

There are encouraging signs for the Staley defense this season - the D has 11 sacks, tied for sixth most. They also have 5 INTs, two fewer than the league lead. The D sacked Davis Mills four times Sunday, without Bosa. They have no fumble recoveries, but the team is still +1 in turnover ratio. I like this secondary. Even with JCJ missing games or sucking early in the season, they are intercepting the ball. Tranquil has one of those INTs. This unit has the chance to lead the league in INTs, if/when JCJ stops sucking.

Another encouraging thing is that Tillery seems to be playing like he gives a damn. I just read he had the highest PFF grade of any Charger on Sunday. Having a plethora of quality DL is good.

[boltfanseattle]

The defense just needs to gel a little more. They'll be fine. Hopefully the browns game is another step in the right direction.

[CanadianBoltFan]

From CBS Sportsline (whether you agree or not, this is a true statement):

"(Staley) remains the biggest question for a theoretical contender, and his preferred side of the ball has allowed the most points in the AFC."

That last part kills me. Why isn't he at least getting our defense to be strong and solid. What the hell is the problem for our defensive genius young head coach?

We can talk defensive improvement all we want but the bottom line is they are 30th in the NFL averaging 27 points against

[Air Coryell]

One of the biggest problems was hiring Renaldo Hill. Hill has just 3 years of NFL coaching experience (asst DB, DB) before becoming our DC. Every contending team has coaches with vast experience. Not sure who signed off on this hire.

[BayAreaBoltz]

Most points? Bullshit stat.

KC scored 44 and 41 against Tampa Bay and Arizona. KC scored 27 vs Chargers and 7 of those were a pick six on Herbert/Everett, so defense held them to 20.

Just look at the eye test from the second half of last Sunday's game against Houston and tell me this defense is a Top 15 or even Top 20 D in this league.

As for stats (from CBS): "Chargers have allowed the most yards per carry in the league (6.08) and are bottom-three in yards before and after contact allowed."

[Kellyb72601]

They really really lack talent at linebacker & that causes problems everywhere else. Tranquil knows what to do just doesn't have the size & length to be really effective at it and Murray has no ability to read & react. Adderly is also lost more often than not. They have to cheat in order to stop the run and that leaves the secondary vulnerable.

I think things will be quite a bit better once they're confident JC Jackson is healthy as they can leave him 1 on 1 and cheat coverage the other way.

[BayAreaBoltz]

They really really lack talent at linebacker & that causes problems everywhere else. Tranquil knows what to do just doesn't have the size & length to be really effective at it and Murray has no ability to read & react. Adderly is also lost more often than not. They have to cheat in order to stop the run and that leaves the secondary vulnerable.

I think things will be quite a bit better once they're confident JC Jackson is healthy as they can leave him 1 on 1 and cheat coverage the other way.

And yet we keep hearing that Staley does not value the LB position. And that seems to play out in who we let go (on the cheap) and who we don't trade for or draft.

[beachcomber]

If you’ve been following the football analytics discourse over the past decade-plus, you know that passing is the most efficient method to move the ball, and that the idea of “establishing the run” is mostly bullshit.

So why, then, are offenses built with a run-first mentality doing so well to start the season? Well, the threat of the run may not boost a team’s play-action game—which is how almost every team generates explosive plays now—but it can draw the coverages and fronts the offense wants to see when dialing up those deep shots.

That’s largely due to the Andy Reids, Sean McVays, and Kyle Shanahans of the world who, by the time Mahomes and the Chiefs hit their stride back in 2018, realized they could exploit single-high coverages for explosive pass plays and avoid long, painstaking drives. As that philosophy swept across the league, defensive strategic shifts became inevitable, and the counterpunch was keeping two safeties back to prevent deep passes and figuring out how to stop the run with fewer numbers.

Two-high looks are particularly effective at forcing short, inefficient throws, and teams like the Bengals, Bucs, and Broncos are seeing them most often.

But now that defenses are finding new ways to cope with spread passing games, teams need to have at least a respectable run threat before those superstar quarterbacks will be able to live up to their lofty standards.

The NFL’s Best Offenses in 2022 Aren’t the Ones With Superstar QBs - The Ringer

the questions I have are MW/Palmer more inefficient than not, and do the likes of Carter/Bandy improve our efficiency.... ?? (Carter had a pretty much piss poor PFF grade this last outing, and fwiw)

the article mentions the importance of the IOL, and have long been worried about Linsley's longterm health, and.... am also of the opinion that he might be wise to see how Salyer does @the OC ??

the article also mentions the value of targeting the middle of the field, and as we saw the success Herbert had w/MW w/the slants/crossers last Sunday, and as opposed to some of the over the shoulder sideline stuff we've grown accustomed to w/the both of MW & Palmer @times.

personally am down for upgrading the run game, and thinkin' 'tis largely personnel, which includes more of Kelley, and drafting a RB early, and upgrading the run blocking in FA next offseason as well.

[powderblueboy]

The NFL’s Best Offenses in 2022 Aren’t the Ones With Superstar QBs - The Ringer

the questions I have are MW/Palmer more inefficient than not, and do the likes of Carter/Bandy improve our efficiency.... ?? (Carter had a pretty much piss poor PFF grade this last outing, and fwiw)

the article mentions the importance of the IOL, and have long been worried about Linsley's longterm health, and.... am also of the opinion that he might be wise to see how Salyer does @the OC ??

the article also mentions the value of targeting the middle of the field, and as we saw the success Herbert had w/MW w/the slants/crossers last Sunday, and as opposed to some of the over the shoulder sideline stuff we've grown accustomed to w/the both of MW & Palmer @times.

personally am down for upgrading the run game, and thinkin' 'tis largely personnel, which includes more of Kelley, and drafting a RB early, and upgrading the run blocking in FA next offseason as well.

You need to invest a lot of practice time, effort and thought into being an effective running team.

Chargers spend most of their time trying to get their short precision passing game to work.

[jamrock]

One of the biggest problems was hiring Renaldo Hill. Hill has just 3 years of NFL coaching experience (asst DB, DB) before becoming our DC. Every contending team has coaches with vast experience. Not sure who signed off on this hire.

Staley signed off on it and got TT to agree most likely.

[Velo]

Gus Bradley was DC during the entirety of the Lynn era, from 2017-2020. Here are the defensive rankings in yds allowed per game followed by points allowed from 2017 thru this point in the 2022 season.

yds allowed per game | pts allowed per game

2017: 328 (15th) | 17 (3rd)
2018: 334 (9th) | 20.6 (8th)
2019: 313 (6th) | 21.6 (14th)
2020: 343 (10th) | 26.6 (23rd)

2021: 360 (22nd) | 27 (29th)
2022: 350 (20th) | 27 (29th)

I get these stats from ESPN, and in the pts allowed they include pts allowed by the offense. If you take away 7 pts for the pick-six in the Chiefs game, pts allowed per game for the Chargers in 2022 drops to 25.5.