The Chargers may be 5-5, but there have still been glimpses of the AFC contender many expected Los Angeles to be coming into the season.
Buy Chargers TicketsAfter two straight difficult games against San Francisco and Kansas City, the Bolts get an easier matchup with the Cardinals on Sunday.
Here are four reasons to be optimistic that LA will come out on top.
Leaky scoring defense
Arizona has the second-worst scoring defense in the league this season at 26.9 points per game. (Detroit is last at 28.2 per game.) While the Chargers are hardly better, allowing 25.8 points per game, the Cardinals’ defensive woes do suggest that, at the very least, this game should be a shootout. Justin Herbert continues to look healthier by the week, while Arizona will get Kyler Murray back for the first time since Week 9 after their QB suffered a hamstring injury. It’s not clear if Murray will be limited at all, but even if he’s full go, a shootout generally favors the better QB. LA has that guy.
Just as banged up as us
The Chargers rarely encounter a team as injured as they are, but the Cardinals have struggled mightily with health this season. Murray and Marquise Brown will likely return for Arizona, but starters Rondale Moore, Zach Ertz, DJ Humphries, and Byron Murphy have all already been ruled out for Sunday’s contest. Moore’s replacement Greg Dortch is also questionable. On LA’s side, Mike Williams will miss the contest after reaggravating his high ankle sprain, while Nasir Adderley (out, thumb) and Michael Davis (questionable, knee) carry injury designations into the weekend. Still, that’s not bad for the Chargers, who had ten players on this week’s injury report at one time or another. Getting Gerald Everett back will be a huge boost for the Chargers’ offense, and Arizona, without Murphy, will need to devote extra resources to covering Allen, who practiced in full for the entire week for the first time post-injury.
Glendale woes
Arizona has been terrible at home in the past two seasons, logging a record of 4-9 while going 11-3 in road games. The Cardinals are just 1-4 at home this season, with their lone victory coming in a 42-34 shootout with the Saints. The Chargers are also 10-4 against the Cardinals all-time, although one of those 4 losses did come in the only game played in State Farm Stadium back in 2014. Most recently, LA whooped Arizona 45-10 in 2018. The two teams are, obviously, composed much differently now, but the Cardinals don’t gain any advantage by sleeping in their beds under Kliff Kingsbury.
Offense on the upswing
We finally saw flashes of a functional, competent offense last week against Kansas City with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams back in the game. Justin Herbert felt comfortable sticking on initial reads when targeting Allen and the Chiefs’ desire to eliminate underneath routes opened up space behind the back of the defense. With Allen (hopefully) on a full complement of snaps this week and Gerald Everett returning from injury, the offense should be able to move the ball as long as they execute properly. That’s no guarantee, given LA’s second-half execution this season, but against a weak Cardinals defense, this could be the week the Chargers put everything together.
