CHARGERS’ COACHING/SCHEMES

Anthony Lynn is in his third season as the L.A. head coach. He is an old-school style coach who likes to run the football early and often to set up the passing game.

Offensive scheme

The Chargers fired offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt two weeks ago, promoting quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen. Lynn has shown a lot of confidence in Steichen, letting him call the plays despite Lynn being a former offensive coordinator and play-caller himself.

Steichen has stayed within Whisenhunt’s system but has put more of a focus on the running game, as Lynn prefers. It has paid off, as the Chargers have rushed for a combined 305 yards and three touchdowns in their last two games. Melvin Gordon, who missed the early part of the season because of a contract holdout, and Austin Ekeler are one of the most talented running back duos in the league.

Despite that talent, quarterback Philip Rivers leads the NFL in passing attempts and passing yards. Now in his 16th season, Rivers is doing his best to continue to carry the offense with his arm, but the results have been inconsistent this season — he’s thrown the third-most interceptions among all QBs.

Like most offenses that play the Chiefs, L.A. will likely be looking to establish the run and stick with it so long as it doesn’t fall too far behind on the scoreboard. Rivers will certainly take some shots off of play-action, but Steichen and Lynn would prefer not to have him throw the ball over 25 times.

Defensive scheme

Gus Bradley is in his third season as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator. He runs a base 4-3 defensive scheme with some elements of a 3-4 mixed in. The Chargers have the sixth-ranked total defense in the NFL.

L.A. has the 19th-ranked rushing defense, which is surprising because it has one of the most talented defensive lines in the league, featuring Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and Brandon Mebane. They can wreck a game.

The Chargers have a lot of talented defensive backs and coverage linebackers, ranking fourth in the NFL in pass defense. Bradley uses his corners to play a lot of press-man coverage. The strong safety often enters the box to help with run support while the free safety plays single-high. Bradley’s system is designed to prevent big plays and to force turnovers.