Justin HerbertRonald Martinez/Getty Images
The Los Angeles Chargers are in trouble. They lost 20-10 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, bringing their record to 4-7. There might be talk of late rallies and postseason presses, however the fact is this: The very first season of the post-Justin Herbert agreement period has actually been a waste.
Injuries have actually played a part, to be sure. These Chargers got in the season with 2 things– a $262.5 million star quarterback, and numerous defects on both sides of the lineup, on the sideline and even the front workplace.
The future is all but doomed for the Chargers, but it’s not too late to start making key changes to save the team’s prospects for the 2024 season.
Before they can repair their defects, however, they need to recognize them and be reasonable about what’s incorrect with the group. That can be tough to do from the within.
From the outdoors, it’s not difficult to recognize a handful of problems that the Chargers require to resolve to make sure 2024 goes in a different way than 2023 did.
Brandon Staley Has to Go
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Brandon StaleyKatelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
It’s unfair to blame Brandon Staley for all of the issues that the Chargers have. There’s likewise no rejecting that under Staley, the Chargers have actually mastered the art of taking defeat from the jaws of success. That was as soon as again on screen Sunday night versus the Ravens
Two years back, all the Chargers required to make the playoffs was a win over a Las Vegas Raiders group with an interim head coach. In 2015 in the playoffs, the Bolts raced out to a 27-0 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Both times, the Chargers lost, with the latter decreasing as the third-worst postseason choke-job in NFL history. This year, the 4-7 Chargers have actually played in 7 one-score video games and have actually won just 2 of them.
Blame the ultra-aggressiveness on 4th down that backfires with consistency. Blame the truth that an expected protective mastermind runs the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2023 and a defense that ranked 20th in the league in 2015. Staley has actually coached 45 video games with the Chargers and is one video game over .500. His groups have actually regularly underachieved. It’s time for him to go.
Fire General Manager Tom Telesco, Too
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Tom TelescoRobert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times through Getty Images
Back in August, Staley made a point of discussing that he and basic supervisor Tom Telesco have actually worked carefully together to develop the Chargers’ lineup, per Daniel Popper of The Athletic.
He even stated it like it was an advantage.