After squeaking past the Oakland Raiders with a 31-28 victory on October 12, the San Diego Chargers were 5-1 and dare I say it that some people were referring to them as being the best team in the National Football League. But the last three weeks have seen the Chargers come crashing back down to earth as they are now 5-4. The Chargers suffered a surprising 23-20 home loss in Week 7 to the Kansas City Chiefs which was followed by a 35-21 defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos in Week 8 on Thursday Night Football. But the bottom appeared to fall out for the Chargers yesterday when they were demolished by the Miami Dolphins 37-0. The loss to the Dolphins marked the first time since 1999 that the Chargers were shut out for an entire game. The Chargers three-game losing streak has seen them drop to 10th place in the competitive AFC as they are now losing playoff tiebreakers to the Chiefs, Broncos, and Dolphins. For Chargers head coach Mike McCoy, he is simply searching for answers as his football team is reeling.
Philip Rivers
A few weeks ago Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers was in the running to be the NFL’s MVP as he was shredding up defenses around the league. Through the first six games of this season, Rivers had thrown 15 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions. But in the Chargers last three games, Rivers has thrown 5 touchdown passes while being picked off 6 times. Rivers left yesterday’s loss to the Dolphins in the second half with what the Chargers are reporting as hand injury, but he was not lighting it up as he was just 12-for-23 passing for only 138 yards with zero touchdowns and 3 interceptions. As a team the Chargers never got into any kind of flow versus the Dolphins. Offensively the Chargers were only 3-for-11 on third down conversions while they only possessed the football for 23 minutes. The Chargers defense was unable to put any kind of pressure on Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill and he did whatever he wanted to do as he was 24-of-34 passing for 288 yards with 3 touchdown passes.
What made the Chargers loss to the Dolphins sting even more is that they had extra time to prepare for the game as they played on Thursday night in the previous week and they simply appeared to be flat which is not good for them a they head into their bye week which apparently began a little early in South Florida.
The season began as a promising one for the Chargers. Last season the Chargers advanced to the AFC Divisional Playoffs for the first time since 2009 and they gave the Broncos all that they could handle before bowing out last January. Expectations were high for the Chargers, but now they are looking up at the Broncos in the AFC West and any hopes of their first division title since 2009 appear to be slipping away.
Ryan Matthews
The injury bug has hit the Chargers heavy this season as they have been without the services of key players such as starting running back Ryan Matthews and middle linebacker Manti Te’o for the majority of the year. Matthews was coming off of a career best season in 2013 where he rushed for 1,255 yards, but a knee injury has limited him to just four games this season. Without Matthews, the Chargers rushing attack is currently 24th in the NFL which isn’t helping Rivers who right now is simply being asked to do too much. Rivers is one of the better quarterbacks in the National Football League, but this team needs to be balanced offensively. Defensively the Chargers have been unable to get off of the field on third down as they are last in the league in the category as opponents are converting on third down nearly 50 percent of the time against them which can partially be attributed to their 15 sacks in 2014 which in 22nd in the league. By not having Te’o on the field it has changed things as he was becoming a leader in the middle of the Chargers defense and he is also a sure tackler. But for McCoy he can use the bye week to get the ship righted and he can remind his Chargers about some recent team history that worked in their favor.
Mike McCoy
Last year the Chargers lost three consecutive November games and they were 4-6 while a trip to the playoffs was looking very bleak. But the Chargers would rally to win five out of their last six games including finishing the season on a four-game winning streak to grab the final playoff spot in the AFC with a record of 9-7. McCoy’s team never gave up last season and he needs to rally the troops once more. In spite of the injuries this season the Chargers still have a talented team led by Rivers who will need to call on his two big wide receivers in Malcolm Floyd and Keenan Allen along with the ageless wonder at tight end in Antonio Gates to step up.
But if the Chargers are going to reverse the tide in 2014 and get back into the playoff race, it will be a little bit harder than it was last season. After their bye week, the Chargers will host the winless Raiders who have been playing tougher under interim head coach Tony Sporano. Over their last five games of the season the Chargers will host the New England Patriots and Broncos which are sandwiched between road contests versus the Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Chiefs. In the three games against the Ravens, Patriots, and Broncos, the Chargers will face three quarterbacks in Joe Flacco (Ravens), Tom Brady (Patriots), and Peyton Manning (Broncos) who have combined to win six Super Bowl Championships. Now is the time for the Chargers to get back on track or else they will be at home in January watching the NFL Playoffs.
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