Tag: chargers special teams

Chargers encounter more special teams disasters after third coaching change this season

The Chargers have had three special teams coaching changes this season. With every change, things have gotten worse.

In 2010, the San Diego Chargers missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record despite ranking second in points scored and 10th in points allowed. How did this happen? Well, their special teams units were one of the worst in recent NFL history — they ranked dead last in the league in Special Teams DVOA by a crushing margin. San Diego’s DVOA was minus-10.2%, and the Colts ranked 31st at minus-6.3%.

Evidently, the Chargers didn’t leave these issues in San Diego when they moved to Los Angeles before the 2017 season. Through the first 13 weeks of the 2020 campaign, head coach Anthony Lynn’s special teams units rank dead last in DVOA just as Norv Turner’s did a decade ago.

Lynn has tried his best to spackle his way through this debacle. He first demoted George Stewart and put Keith Burns and Chris Caminiti in that role, before several more special teams issues reared their heads in the team’s 45-0 loss to the Patriots last Sunday. At that point, Lynn said, “To heck with it,” and took over those duties himself.

Did that make things better? No. No, it did not. As Exhibit A, we give you what happened near the end of the first half in the Chargers’ game against the Falcons.

Here, you’ve got a run for no gain on third-and-1 with 22 seconds left in the half. From there, you have half the offense walking off the field as half the field goal unit comes on the field, an obvious too-many-men-on-the-field penalty, and a non-effort to get the ball through the uprights.

Lynn looks like he can’t even anymore, and we can hardly blame him. The Chargers blew three easy points because their special teams are by far the NFL’s worst — and it ain’t getting better anytime soon.

Chargers’ Anthony Lynn taking over special teams duties

Coach Anthony Lynn is hoping for improvement under his guidance.

The Chargers thought that demoting George Stewart and promoting Keith Burns and Chris Caminiti would be the answer to fixing the special teams woes.

But it didn’t, as witnessed last Sunday when Los Angeles gave up a punt return touchdown and had a field goal blocked for a touchdown along with a few other blunders against the Patriots.

In hopes of resolving them with four games left to play, coach Anthony Lynn is taking matters into his own hands, as he will be taking over the duties of special teams coordinator for the rest of the season.

According to Football Outsiders, the Chargers special teams unit is worse this year than they were in 2010, the year their special teams were so bad that they missed the playoffs despite finishing first in both yards and yards allowed.

Los Angeles will challenge the worst special teams they have ever tracked in DVOA history, the 2000 Buffalo Bills.

Yikes.

Chargers make changes to coaching staff

The Chargers are trying to shore up the special teams department.

The Chargers are making some changes to the coaching staff.

Coach Anthony Lynn is reassigning special teams coach George Stewart as an offensive analyst and promoting assistant special teams coach Keith Burns to fill the void.

Lynn will also aide in the department.

Los Angeles made the change after ranking dead last in special teams DVOA, according to Football Outsiders. The team has allowed the most punt return yards in the league this season — and they’ve had three blocked punts.

Stewart has served as the special teams and assistant coach since 2017.

Burns spent six years as an assistant special teams coach in Denver from 2007-2012. After that, he was Washington’s coordinator in 2013, and has been the assistant for the Chargers since 2018.