Tag: Anthony Lynn Fired

Instant analysis of the Chargers’ shutout loss to the Patriots

The Los Angeles Chargers were embarrassed by the New England Patriots on Sunday.

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The Chargers were shut out by the Patriots, 45-0.

Here is my instant analysis from Los Angeles’ loss to New England in Week 13:

Injury Report

Safety Rayshawn Jenkins went down early on in the contest, but he returned to the action shortly after. Running back Joshua Kelley suffered an ankle injury.

Play of the Game: Kenneth Murray’s first career sack

Murray, who led the team in tackles (14), was one of the very few players who showed life through all four quarters. Along the way, the rookie picked up his first professional sack in the second quarter.

Notable Number

With the 45-0 loss to the Patriots, the Chargers suffered their biggest blowout in franchise history.

Quick Takes

Coach Bill Belichick has had a lot of success against rookie quarterbacks in his tenure. It was no different today, as the Patriots defense limited Justin Herbert to only 209 passing yards and two interceptions. New England did a great job of pressuring him and taking away his targets all afternoon long.

When Herbert did have time to throw the football, he was off the mark on a lot of his passes, primarily overthrowing his targets.

The Chargers didn’t have many opportunities to run the ball today, only rushing 15 times for 70 yards. Running backs Austin Ekeler and Kalen Ballage split the carries, 8 and 7, respectively.

Cornerback Stephon Gilmore got the best of wide receiver Keenan Allen, limiting him to only five catches for 48 yards on 11 targets. WR Mike Williams and tight end Hunter Henry were non-factors, as well.

The run defense has been concerning as of late. It was no different today, especially without linebacker Denzel Perryman, as the unit allowed 165 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. There was very little push upfront and defenders looked uninspired to tackle.

While the Patriots only threw the ball 22 times, the pass rush was nearly nonexistent. Linebacker Kenneth Murray was the player who had the team’s lone sack.

Special teams were as bad as it gets. They allowed two touchdowns and had a couple of bone-headed penalties.

All in all, the Chargers were flat out embarrassed and did not look like they were ready to play today. Coach Anthony Lynn might be loved as a person, but he is not proven as a coach anymore.

Up Next

The Chargers play host to the Falcons next Sunday, Dec. 13 at 1:25 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on CBS.

Could Chargers’ Anthony Lynn get the axe before the end of the season?

Anthony Lynn is among the coaches on the hot seat heading into the final quarter of the season.

The Chargers aren’t getting the job under coach Anthony Lynn.

Heading into the final quarter of the 2020 season, Lynn is on the hot seat with Los Angeles sitting with a 3-8 record. If things don’t turn around, he could find himself being shown the door sooner than later, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport adds that the organization hasn’t fired a coach in the middle of the season since 1998 when it moved on from Kevin Gilbride.

Lynn posted winning seasons in his first two years with Los Angeles but is 8-19 over the last two heading into Week 13. Six of their eight losses this season have been in one-score games, largely due to Lynn’s maddening game management.

While Lynn is respected as a person, his coaching is cutting it for a team that has so much potential with their quarterback of the future in Justin Herbert and a talented roster surrounding him.

Should the ongoing issues continue today against the Patriots, I can see the Chargers electing to cut ties with Lynn as early as Monday and letting someone like offensive coordinator Shane Steichen serve as the interim in the meantime.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to believe that he will be the guy in charge in 2021 and beyond.

Could Chargers’ Anthony Lynn get the axe before the end of the season?

Anthony Lynn is among the coaches on the hot seat heading into the final quarter of the season.

The Chargers aren’t getting the job under coach Anthony Lynn.

Heading into the final quarter of the 2020 season, Lynn is on the hot seat with Los Angeles sitting with a 3-8 record. If things don’t turn around, he could find himself being shown the door sooner than later, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport adds that the organization hasn’t fired a coach in the middle of the season since 1998 when it moved on from Kevin Gilbride.

Lynn posted winning seasons in his first two years with Los Angeles but is 8-19 over the last two heading into Week 13. Six of their eight losses this season have been in one-score games, largely due to Lynn’s maddening game management.

While Lynn is respected as a person, his coaching is cutting it for a team that has so much potential with their quarterback of the future in Justin Herbert and a talented roster surrounding him.

Should the ongoing issues continue today against the Patriots, I can see the Chargers electing to cut ties with Lynn as early as Monday and letting someone like offensive coordinator Shane Steichen serve as the interim in the meantime.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to believe that he will be the guy in charge in 2021 and beyond.

Chargers’ Anthony Lynn responds to job security question

Coach Anthony Lynn still believes that he is right guy to turn the Chargers around.

Coach Anthony Lynn just isn’t getting the job done for the Chargers.

A 3-8 record isn’t appealing, but the way the team has lost nearly all of their games attributes to the coaching.

Lynn’s poor game and time management and decision-making has put him on the hot seat and many believe that he will be out of a job by the end of the season now.

On Monday, following their latest loss to the Bills, Lynn was hit with a questions in regards to his job security.

“It comes with the territory,” Lynn said. “I control what I can control and I don’t worry about that. Of course, I like my job and I want to be here and I believe that I’m the right guy for the job and can turn this around. But that’s not my decision.”

The loss to Buffalo showcased a slew of blunders that have been ongoing this season combined into one game, which falls all on his shoulders.

Lynn is 29-30 since taking the job in 2017, including 8-19 since the start of the 2019 season. They are 4-16 games decided by one score. That is the most one-score losses in the league in that span.

With there being six games left and Lynn is still the man in charge, many wonder if he can turn it around. But no matter the outcome of the season, those also still want a fresh start.

It’s time for Chargers to show Anthony Lynn the door

Anthony Lynn is holding the Chargers back from reaching to their full potential.

Just weeks ago, I asked if the time has come for the Chargers to fire coach Anthony Lynn. The answer has officially been set in stone.

Lynn has been on the hot seat for the past couple of seasons, with it only getting hotter this year. However, Los Angeles’ loss to the Bills exemplified why it’s now time to show him the door.

Lynn was unable to execute during a few key situations, which cost them the game. The most head-scratching one came in the final seconds of the game when quarterback Justin Herbert completed a beautiful hail mary pass to wide receiver Tyron Johnson to get the ball to Buffalo’s one-yard line.

With 24 seconds left, they called a inside run play with running back Austin Ekeler. It failed and the team elected for a quick pass to wide receiver Mike Williams that also failed. After that, they ran a quarterback scramble play, only to have his offensive linemen dropping back in pass protection where Herbert was demolished.

They ended up failing to score and wasted an opportunity to extend the game, even if it ultimately wasn’t going to be enough to come back on top. That wasn’t the only time Lynn’s decision-making cost them against the Bills.

Just before halftime, down 11 points, Lynn decided to call a timeout with 21 seconds left with the Chargers facing a 4th-and-2 at Buffalo’s 48. The team had already wasted more than 1:30 off the clock, so why call the timeout? To get the offense in position to go for it? No, it was only to punt the ball.

But wait, there’s more.

Los Angeles was at the Bills’ 8-yard-line, facing fourth down with less than 11 minutes to go in the game when Lynn ran onto the field to argue the spot of the ball. The field goal unit wasn’t able to get in place on time to kick it so he had to use a timeout.

Since 2017, Lynn is 29-29 with one playoff appearance. The icing on the cake is that he’s 3-16 in one-score games over the last two years and he has blown four double-digit leads this season, which is a result of his poor clock management, in-game adjustments and play calling.

Lynn is well coveted as a person and for his leadership skills. However, he’s holding back a team that has a talented roster with his questionable decision-making, especially in critical situations. The future is bright for the Chargers, but it won’t be if Lynn is the head coach moving forward.

When the time comes, there will be plenty of coaches and coordinators that will be intrigued by the vacancy.

Has the time come for Chargers to fire HC Anthony Lynn?

Head coach Anthony Lynn has done nothing to elevate the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers season has been the same episode on a weekly basis.

Los Angeles has suffered multiple one-score defeats and while it’s easy to point to injuries to key players and in-game hiccups as the reasons for the ongoing woes, it has come down to the coaching.

Coach Anthony Lynn has been unable to get his team over the hump in close games. The Bolts are 3-15 in said games since the start of last season.

In each of their past four one-score losses, L.A. has given up 30 points or more. Meanwhile, the offense, led by rookie quarterback Justin Herbert has been doing everything he can to get them past their problems.

It’s been something new every week that has attributed to their close losses, but the in-game strategy in each of the three phases has been poor and it has been evident.

There was some hope following the Mike McCoy era when Lynn led the Chargers to a 12-4 record and a trip to the playoffs in 2018. But it’s been a downward spiral ever since then.

Last season, Los Angeles finished with a 5-11 record. This season, the team sits with a 2-6 record and they have not shown to overcome their ongoing issues of being able to close out games.

With Herbert being in his first season as a professional, this is the time to let go of someone for a coach that will only be able to continue to maximize his potential, as well as the team around him in order to have success when it comes down to situations like this that have been ongoing.

Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton have had a great amount of success with Herbert. Thus, showing that L.A. doesn’t need to wait until the end of the season to get rid of Lynn. Instead, they can pull the trigger now.

Chargers continue their streak of historically heartbreaking, infuriating losses

The 2-5 Chargers are better than their record would indicate. The problem is a historic series of late-game implosions — a franchise trend.

If you were to take an objective look at the now 2-5 Los Angeles Chargers, you would say… there’s no way a team this good has a record this bad, right? Rookie quarterback Justin Herbert is performing at a record pace, and he’s got weapons everywhere. The defense ranks 12th in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics (at least for now), and head coach Anthony Lynn is a smart guy and a great motivator — we saw that in this season’s Hard Knocks series.

But the Chargers stand at 2-5, and outside of the Falcons, no NFL team has a predilection for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory like this one. This continued on Sunday, when Denver quarterback Drew Lock hit rookie receiver KJ Hamler for a one-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock.

It took a while for the officials to rule that Hamler was in bounds (one butt equals two feet), which just added to the agony. That touchdown tied the game at 30-30, and Brandon McManus’ game-winning extra point was a mere formality, though the Chargers’ illegal formation penalty on the kick (declined by Denver, of course) just made it worse.

Here’s the kicker: The Chargers have lost their five games by a total of 19 points, and all of the losses have been one-score games. If this team had half a clue how to hold a lead, they’d be dangerous. But they don’t, as they have proven in unfortunately historic fashion:

Even in a season that’s seen an unusual amount of late double-digit comebacks, this is really bad. And the Chargers have had a problem with this for a while. Last season, Philip Rivers led the league by a crushing margin with six interceptions in the last two minutes or games, which led to enough heartbreak on its own. Now, defensive implosions seem to be the order of the day.

Stat of the Day: Philip Rivers’ two-minute disasters

The players are certainly frustrated…

And Lynn is now fielding questions about his job security.

Fair enough when you can’t close the deal. The Chargers are much better than their record would indicate, but these late-game collapses point to issues that will mark them out of the postseason for the second straight year.

Why Chargers’ Anthony Lynn should be back in 2020

There’s no question about it, Anthony Lynn should be leading the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020.

The Los Angeles Chargers did not have the season they were anticipating. Following a 12-win season and a trip to the playoffs, they weren’t even close to matching that the year after, finishing well below a .500 record.

The list of reasons why the Chargers underperformed could go on and on. From the injuries, to the close losses that were resulted from turnovers, to the blown coverages in the red zone and on third-down situations, the Bolts were unable to overcome those woes all season long.

When the win-loss ratio is seen, it’s easy to resort to the coaching as the main issue, which is why many fans want coach Anthony Lynn out of a job when the season concludes Sunday.

For those that want Lynn fired, it’s unlikely that it’s going to happen.

From when he was hired, the Chargers went 9-7 and 12-4 in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Within those two seasons, he built a culture that had not been established in this franchise for a plethora of years.

Fast forward to 2019, the results may have not met the expectations that were set prior to. But regardless of what the record indicates, players that were question marks are bought in, they’re playing with a purpose and the guys in the locker room believe he is their guy moving forward.

“We believe in him. This late in the season, to play with the energy that we played with the other night, we’re definitely behind the guy that’s in front of us. We definitely believe in what he’s preaching. And we definitely believe in how he communicates with us so that we can meet in middle grounds to take this organization where we need to go.

He’s by no means a guy that’s up front that doesn’t take into consideration the people below him. He always does. Anything that Anthony Lynn is putting out is something that we collectively have agreed upon. You just can’t ask for a better man in front than a guy that carries those characteristics,” safety Adrian Phillips said about Lynn.

“He’s a man of his word. He’s a man that you can hold accountable for what he says. That’s what you’re looking for in anybody that’s leading or in front, period. That characteristic right there. Can I hold you accountable for what you told us? And you can.

He’s a guy that we feel makes the moves that we need on this team to win. Whether they work or not, we know that the moves that he makes for this team are in great intentions, and that hasn’t always been the case in this organization,” defensive tackle Damion Square said.

You can question some of the in-game play-calling and decision-making as reasons why he should get canned, but the variables that occurred this season simply outweigh the concerns of Lynn and the rest of the coaching staff that may be seen.

There’s no denying that the roster of the Chargers is built to win. But with an offseason of acquisitions at positions of need, allowing the players to regain full health, the Bolts should be back to their winning ways in 2020, all with Lynn leading the team when they begin their new journey in SoFi Stadium.