The Los Angeles Chargers have found nearly every single way in the book to lose games. Each of their losses has been within seven points or less.
How are the Chargers getting so close to winning contests, but struggling to come out on top? One of the biggest issues that has required detailed attention all season, but has not improved is the Bolts’ inability to score points in the red zone.
It just so happens that’s where two of their games were lost — running back Melvin Gordon’s fumble vs. Titans and quarterback Philip Rivers’ game-ending interception against the Chiefs.
The team has been by haunted within their opponent’s 20-yard line by turnovers and simply settling for field goals, which is why the Chargers are No. 22 in scoring this year, averaging just 19.8 points a contest.
Through 12 games, the offense currently has a red zone efficiency of 46.34%, which is 26th in the league, per Team Rankings. For comparison, last year they had a percentage of 64.41%, which was eighth-best in the league.
“I think when you go back and look at certain things,” Steichen says. “Obviously, you want to put our guys in the best position. Sometimes, they make a play, but obviously, we have to do a better job of looking at what we’re doing. Whether it’s the situation where we’re running it or we’re throwing it.
Obviously, it’s a cat-and-mouse game when you’re playing against defensive coordinator. You might think he’s going to be in a two-deep shell and then he plays man. There’s that we have to do a better job of self-scouting and trying to see what they’re going to be in,” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said on red zone woes.
One of the biggest issues is that they aren’t utilizing the right players. Wide receiver Keenan Allen is getting the majority of the looks, but it’s nearly always short of the sticks on quick slants or flats.
Allen, who is the best receiver on the team, is nearly always getting open but he may not be the top option on third-down situations in the red zone.
You’d think that the Chargers would take advantage of wide receiver Mike Williams’ size and leaping ability to finally help him score for the first time this season on jump ball situations. But they haven’t and instead have used him on shorter routes or teams are sitting in his routes because Rivers will stare him down from the get go.
And then there’s tight end Hunter Henry. Henry has gotten a fair share of red zone looks, a few of which have resulted in touchdowns. But it’s not on a consistent basis and lately he’s been running posts or crossing routes, which means that Rivers will read the linebackers and if he doesn’t like it, he’s going elsewhere which hasn’t been working.
Another reason why the team hasn’t been able to find success when the field shrinks is because far too often they seem to forget about running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler and rely heavily on Rivers to get the job done, especially within the five.
Lastly, which ties into all that’s been mentioned. Get creative with the play-calling to create mismatches and get players open. Despite this touchdown being just shy of the red zone, it shows what they need to do.
Ekeler and Gordon ran a route to the left, Gordon went into the flat and Ekeler on a wheel route up the sideline. It froze up the linebacker and Ekeler was wide open for the score.
The bottom line is that it’s puzzling that a team with so much talent on the offensive side of the ball has struggled to find an identity in the red zone. In order to be more efficient the Chargers need to do a better job with play-calling, route combinations to set up mismatches and run the ball more in tight quarters.
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