San Diego’s loss to the Rams was different. This time, they couldn’t blame special teams.
The offense struggled badly to pick up first downs, and the secondary gave up too many plays to St. Louis’ young receivers. The running game has yet to be a difference maker this year, largely because the Chargers keep falling behind early in games. The offensive line struggled against the Rams’ pressure packages.
“We talk about special teams, but it’s moving around a bit -- we’re not making plays on offense or defense, either,” Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith told Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Eventually, you run out of time. It’s not the case yet, but it soon will be.”
This isn’t a normal 2-4 team. The Chargers are first in the NFL in yards gained and yards allowed. Yep, they are 2-4 despite averaging 177 more yards than their opponents. Smith and coach Norv Turner took turns accepting full blame on Monday, but hope isn’t lost yet.
Just like the Cowboys, the Chargers are only two losses behind in their division. Unlike the Cowboys, it’s hard to imagine a path to the playoffs going through the wild card for San Diego. The AFC is too deep.
“We say we’re going to fix it, but we’ve been saying it for a while, and meanwhile losses are piling up,” Smith said. “If anybody else in our division was breaking out, we’d be in serious, serious trouble -- and it appears we will be if we don’t straighten things out.”