The Los Angeles Chargers deserve better than this.
A team with one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, an offense loaded with talent and led by one of the game’s brightest play callers and a defense stacked with playmakers at all levels cannot be this awful.
Sure, that quarterback (Justin Herbert) wasn’t playing on Thursday night while Los Angeles was getting absolutely thrashed by the Las Vegas Raiders at home. However, this newest Chargers loss was just the latest, lonely sigh of sadness to come from a franchise that should just be better than this.
Head coach Brandon Staley is not long for his job. After he was hired in 2021 after getting excellent play out of the Los Angeles Rams defense, he has failed to do anything of note since taking over the Chargers. The team wasted having Herbert on his rookie contract, and they’ve not been able to maximize an offense that boasts talent like Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Eckler.
On defense, what else can you say? This Chargers team should’ve been a hassle to score on with the outrageously talented trio of Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Derwin James. For so much of Staley’s tenure, this defense constantly punched below its weight. It could’ve been so much more.
Injuries have plagued the Chargers, but this team just has too much talent in all phases of the game to be this much of a non-factor in the AFC. Of all the NFL teams with a superstar at quarterback, have any been this consistently disappointing like the Chargers have? Not really!
There just isn’t much to say at this point about Chargers football. Herbert and company could be a perennial playoff team if they just had the right leadership in place (and a bit of better luck with the injury bug).
Staley probably won’t be out of a job long with how well he did as a defensive coordinator with the Rams, but this Chargers team desperately needs more than what they’ve gotten in the past few seasons.
The future could be bright for the Bolts if they get the right coaches in place and continue to build out this already talented roster, but for now, things look bleak. Getting blown out by the Raiders will do that for you.
At least for now, the Chargers are in desperate need of a fresh start. This talented roster deserves so much more than what it’s gotten.
