The Joe Lombardi Support Thread

[kgbpasha]

When Herbert hoists this in February,
Lombardi will have made his way down
to the field by then.

Go Joe!

462643976.jpg

[wu-dai clan]

its TPB

someone is always unhappy

7196 posts to catch the other thread.

:thumbsup:

[Guest]

Last season Justin Herbert:

Was 2nd in passing yardage (behind the GOAT) with 5014 yds
Was 3rd in TD passes with 38
Completed 66 percent of his passes
Had a 97.7 passer rating
The Chargers were 5th in scoring at 27.9 pts per game.

It is well-documented that it was poor, porous defense that kept the Chargers out of the playoffs. The offense was stellar under Joe Lombardi. There's no way you can legitimately question that.

This season, after two games, Herbert:

Is currently 4th in passing yds with 613 (more than Mahomes)
Has 6 TD passes, tied for 4th behind QBs who have 7
Has completed 72 percent of his passes
Has a 112.5 passer rating
The Chargers are 11th in scoring at 24 pts per game
The Chargers are 1-1, their loss on a short week Thurs game on the road against one of the best teams in the league

The Chargers' offense is in good hands with Lombardi as OC. I'm glad we have him.

I disagree completely with your take. Where do you think the offense should have finished last year given its talent? The team was 5th in scoring because Staley picked up a bunch of points on 4th downs by going for it. They would have finished about 13th in scoring without the Staley points. The offense should have finished better than 5th in scoring last year and should lead the league in scoring this year.

Herbert finished second in yards and 3rd in TDs because he attempted the second most passes. So, the stats you cited would be expected given Herbert's number of attempts. Herbert only finished 11th in passer rating and Lombardi deserves blame for that.

This year, Herbert has a large number of attempts and is completing 72% of them, fully 5.5% above his expected completion percentage. So that is Herbert's doing, not Lombardi's. Lombardi has admitted that his play calling was too conservative in the first game. Only two passes over 17 yards on 48 attempts in the second game speaks for itself in terms of ineptitude.

I think a very good case could be made that Lombardi's play calling almost cost us the first game (when we should have scored about 45 points) and did cost us the second game. Lombardi has had multiple poorly timed cases of the "run runs", has not called enough passes overall (under 60%), and when he has called passes, there have been far too many short passes, especially to Palmer, who has been all but useless (12 targets for 35 yards of ineptitude).

Lombardi may be our opponents' MVP all season long. He has been in both games so far.

[PR#1]

Compare Lombardis numbers to Steichen

The difference is Steichen adapts his offense to the players he has. Steichen is viewed as one of the most innovative play callers in the NFL. Look how he's adapting his offense to Hurts.

Lombardi runs the same stuff regardless of his player talent. He does no adapting.

Lombardi was fired from Detroit for that and were it not for Staley, Lombardi would be a QB coach somewhere.

He washed out of Detroit and in another season or so will wash out of here, wasting several years of Herberts career

[richpjr]

Compare Lombardis numbers to Steichen

The difference is Steichen adapts his offense to the players he has. Steichen is viewed as one of the most innovative play callers in the NFL. Look how he's adapting his offense to Hurts.

Lombardi runs the same stuff regardless of his player talent. He does no adapting.

Lombardi was fired from Detroit for that and were it not for Staley, Lombardi would be a QB coach somewhere.

He washed out of Detroit and in another season or so will wash out of here, wasting several years of Herberts career

LOL - people couldn't wait to run Steichen out of town here. Now is a genius. This place cracks me up.

[JupiterBolt]

Mediocre lawyers with repetitive takes make me laugh.

[NoMoreChillies]

there have been far too many short passes, especially to Palmer, who has been all but useless (12 targets for 35 yards of ineptitude).

.

I apologize for cutting up your reply, but this stat intriuged me so i did some film study on it. I found 9 passes thrown to Palmer maybe i missed the other 3.

Here they are:

Herbert is off target

pass interference

Herb throws out of bounds

Herb throws behind

Good completion

good completion

flat pass complete

Herb pass to high

Touchdown

I'd say Palmer is doin just fine filling in for Slayer. Herb accuracy needs work.

[Guest]

I apologize for cutting up your reply, but this stat intriuged me so i did some film study on it. I found 9 passes thrown to Palmer maybe i missed the other 3.

Here they are:

Herbert is off target

pass interference

Herb throws out of bounds

Herb throws behind

Good completion

good completion

flat pass complete

Herb pass to high

Touchdown

I'd say Palmer is doin just fine filling in for Slayer. Herb accuracy needs work.

I am discussing Palmer's entire season when I say 12 targets for 35 yards. Those are his stats. Please feel free to look it up.

Here is what you seem to be overlooking. The first three routes are like many of Palmer's routes in that they are essentially invited completions for about 3 yards a pop. On the second of the first three, the defender unnecessarily holds as he could have recovered as Palmer cannot run by him when he unexpectedly turns upfield. (But notice how the turn upfield was unexpected because we never throw deep.) On the third play, Herbert had to throw the ball away as Palmer was not open with the defender deliberately not getting closer to Palmer and baiting Herbert for the sideline pick-6 opportunity.

The fourth pass is again a three yard nothing pass route with the defender closing fast. Palmer's route is terrible. He jogs three yards upfield and nearly stops, waits a fraction of a second (Herbert probably thinks he is performing a hook since Palmer comes to or very near to a complete stop on the play) and then he decides to cut inside.

The 5th and 6th plays--wow, massive--passes to Palmer that each went for a whole 7 air yards.

The 7th pass is an invited completion behind the line of scrimmage that the opponent is hoping for and letting Palmer catch. Just an awful play call. Why not have a receiver clear that out and send Ekeler into the flat? Palmer has zero shake and bake, so he is literally the last receiver the team should have running that play. Ekeler is the guy that can make people miss in the open field. More forced misuse of Palmer.

The 8th pass is a thrown high because the linebacker is sitting in Herbert's throwing lane. That pass cannot be lofted as the defender is closing from the back side.

On the 9th pass, the team returns to the same/similar pattern for Palmer since they saw that the defender allowed Palmer to gain inside position. To Palmer's credit, he gets open again and catches a TD pass from Herbert.

At the end of the day, though, Palmer has been targeted 12 times in the 2022 season for a total of 35 yards. That is a massive fail by any measure. And even if you allowed two or three more completions for another 10-12 yards, that is still a massive fail. Remember, the QB misses other WRs too from time to time and yet they still produce at a far more efficient rate than Palmer has. Most of Palmer's receptions this season have been invited, keep the player to a small gain freebie receptions. That is why he only has 35 yards on 12 targets.

He was a starting WR against KC and put up 30 yards on 8 targets. That is not getting the job done.

Unless these passes are last read passes, most of them are just wasted downs, the stupid pass play functional equivalent of the stupid running play that Lombardi also loves to call at the worst possible times.

Finally, regarding Herbert needing accuracy work, Herbert is completing 72% of his passes and is 5.5% above his expected pass completion rate for the passes he has thrown. So, you are dead wrong there too. However, I agree that Herbert and Palmer do not work well together in terms of efficiency. Palmer is not getting the job done despite the coaching staff trying to force that result at the expense of the offense exactly as I predicted would happen if Palmer's target share were increased.

[gzubeck]

LOL - people couldn't wait to run Steichen out of town here. Now is a genius. This place cracks me up.

Not me. Go back and review my posts. I wanted to retain him and Pip no matter what. But everyone said we're going to a new system.

[Velo]

I liked Steichen and in early 2021 I felt it would've been a good move to retain him and continue the continuity with Herbert in year 2. But I don't make these decisions. But I also like Lombardi and I have nothing but praise for what he has done with Herb and this offense. The numbers, and the offense's success, under Lombardi speak for themselves.

In KC last week, the Lombardi-Herbert offense out-scored the Reid-Mahomes offense 24-20. Take away the TD that JCJ uncharacteristically gave up - chalk it up to not having any playing time since early August - and it's 24-13.

[Topcat]

Compare Lombardis numbers to Steichen

The difference is Steichen adapts his offense to the players he has. Steichen is viewed as one of the most innovative play callers in the NFL. Look how he's adapting his offense to Hurts.

Lombardi runs the same stuff regardless of his player talent. He does no adapting.

Lombardi was fired from Detroit for that and were it not for Staley, Lombardi would be a QB coach somewhere.

He washed out of Detroit and in another season or so will wash out of here, wasting several years of Herberts career

^ This...what we have here...is a failure to adapt...

[Velo]

^ This...what we have here...is a failure to adapt...

Failure to adapt. Let's see, Joe Lombardi coordinated an offense that was top five in passing yards and scoring. Two games into this young season, the offense is 5th in passing yardage and his QB has one less passing TD than the league leaders. The Lombardi-Herbert offense out-scored the Reid-Mahomes offense in KC on a short week. But somehow this is a failure. OK.