Tag: Gus Bradley

The Raiders announced Gus Bradley hire by accidentally tweeting a photo of Ken Whisenhunt

Oops.

Oh, Las Vegas Raiders.

It was good news in the organization when the former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach — more importantly, the former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator who coached the Legion of Boom — Gus Bradley was hired to be defensive coordinator to replace the fired Paul Guenther.

But the announcement on Twitter confused a lot of fans and NFL experts — it appeared to be a photo of former Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, and that might explain that the Raiders got the wrong ex-Chargers coach (Bradley was the defensive coordinator for Los Angeles the last three seasons).

Here’s the gaffe:

https://twitter.com/GManzano24/status/1349048197327384577

And the correct photo:

LOL.



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Raiders hire former Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley

Gus Bradley is joining the Chargers’ AFC West rival.

Gus Bradley has been named the Las Vegas Raiders’ new defensive coordinator.

Bradley served as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator the past four seasons, where he joined Anthony Lynn when he was brought on as the head coach.

Las Vegas’ demand for Bradley came as no surprise. He served as head coach Jon Gruden’s linebackers coach from 2006-08 during their time with the Buccaneers.

In the four seasons, Los Angeles finished in the top 10 in points allowed twice and the top 10 in yards allowed three times.

However, he was unable to have a lot of success the last two seasons. Injuries occurred to key defenders, but he was unable to make adjustments, especially in crucial situations.

Prior to joining L.A., Bradley was the Jaguars’ head coach, finishing with a 14-48 record in four seasons. He was coveted for his revelation of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom,” a defense that wreaked havoc in the league before his time in Jacksonville.

The Chargers will fill the vacancy when their new head coach is hired.

Report: Raiders request interview with Gus Bradley

The Chargers’ AFC West rival is attempting to lure in Gus Bradley.

The departure of coach Anthony Lynn means that the majority of the coaching staff is likely to follow, too.

NFL teams are wasting no time in attempt to acquire some of the members on the staff.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders have requested to interview Gus Bradley for their defensive coordinator vacancy.

Las Vegas’ demand for Bradley comes as no surprise. He served as head coach Jon Gruden’s linebackers coach from 2006-08 during their time with the Buccaneers.

Hired by Los Angeles back in 2017, Bradley was coveted for his revelation of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom,” a defense that wreaked havoc in the league.

Bradley had success in his first two seasons. However, he was unable to match that the last two seasons. Injuries occurred to key defenders, but he was unable to make adjustments, especially in crucial situations.

10 candidates to replace Jim Schwartz as Eagles defensive coordinator

Adam Zimmer and Dan Campbell are among 10 candidates to replace Jim Schwartz as Eagles defensive coordinator

The coaching carousel in Philadelphia is underway, as defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, made the stunning move to not renew his contract or seek a new deal.

Philadelphia won the only Super Bowl in franchise history with Schwartz as defensive coordinator and his units twice finished in the top 5 in DVOA and never finished below No. 17.

The Eagles ranked ninth in scoring defense during his tenure and despite some ugly performances, he’s respected around the league.

With Schwartz set to sail off into the sunset, here are 10 candidates to replace him.

Chargers’ Gus Bradley not thinking about future as job status looms

Gus Bradley’s job could also be on the line.

We will know what the future holds for head coach Anthony Lynn in the coming days. But others on the staff could be on the chopping block if Lynn is on his way out, including defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

Asked about his future at Thursday’s media availability, Bradley was noncommittal, saying that he tries not to think about whether he’s back with the team next year.

However, Bradly said he’s excited to see what a healthy Chargers team can do: “I think the future is very bright for this defense.”

Los Angeles has played this entire season without key defenders like safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill. Along the way, injuries hindered others edge defenders Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Casey Hayward.

Hired back in 2017, the same year that Lynn was brought on, Bradley was coveted for his revelation of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom,” a defense that wreaked havoc in the league.

Under Bradley, Los Angeles has ranked among the best defenses in the league, statistically. However, opposing offenses have figured out how to exploit his notorious Cover 3 scheme, especially in crucial moments of games.

L.A. has struggled to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback as well as create turnovers the past two years.

LB Kenneth Murray coming into his own in Chargers defense

The future is looking very bright for No. 56 in the blue and gold.

The Chargers’ defense has had its ups and downs this season, as the unit has been battered by injuries.

Among the positional groups that has seen players go down is the linebackers. Drue Tranquill was placed on the IR after the first game of the season. Denzel Perryman and Kyzir White have both missed a few games.

However, the one member of the crop that has played and started every single game this season is Kenneth Murray.

Murray, who Los Angeles traded up for in the first-round to draft, experienced growing pains with an expanded role right off the bat, but he’s made consistent growth over time.

“Every week there’s a little bit of growth that I go through,” Murray said. “I see something faster, maybe quicker, and I think the beauty of it [is], I’ve always been the type of guy that if we play a team once, when we come back and play them a second time, you’re able to see things and see how they do things to be able to capitalize on those things. I think that’s been another thing to my benefit being able to play our division teams twice a year.”

Murray has been at his best when making plays in front of him and laterally, stopping ball carriers as they try to escape. The area that’s improving, but he will need to continue to get better at is in coverage.

However, he has been put in a tough spot with both safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill, two of the team’s best coverage defenders, out with injuries.

Murray has one game left to play, and he’s already surpassed over 100 tackles, marking the sixth Chargers linebacker since 2000 to post at least 100 tackles in a regular season. The other five are Junior Seau, Donnie Edwards, Stephen Cooper, Takeo Spikes and Thomas Davis.

In total, Murray has 104 tackles, five tackles for loss, three passes defensed, and a sack.

All in all, given the circumstances of a short training camp and no preseason, Murray has played extremely well this season and it’s safe to say that he is just scratching the surface.

Chargers DC Gus Bradley explains Uchenna Nwosu’s lack of snaps

Uchenna Nwosu needs to be on the field more.

The Chargers selected edge defender Uchenna Nwosu in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft with the hopes of him becoming the successor to Melvin Ingram. However, the amount of time that Nwosu has spent on the field says otherwise.

Nwosu has played in 12 games, four of which he started when Ingram was out with various injuries. But he’s only logged 320 snaps in that time. For perspective, that’s makes up 39% of the defensive snaps this season.

It’s puzzling because Nwosu has proven to be the team’s second best pass rusher behind Joey Bosa and he’s been a force against the run in his three stints. Nevertheless, Nwosu has seen Jerry Tillery and Isaac Rochell take the snaps that he should be having.

At Tuesday’s media availability, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was asked about Nwosu’s lack of playing time and he went on to say that he’s still banged up a little bit from a shoulder injury sustained against the Jets back in Week 11. Bradley also added that the team is still “learning about him.”

Nwosu logged 49% percent of the snaps when he returned in Week 13, but they were decreased by 19% this past weekend. The former USC product has also been experimented at linebacker in their base packages, even after proving that he’s at his best at the line of scrimmage.

If Los Angeles anticipates Nwosu being the starting LEO after this season, assuming Ingram leaves in free agency, it would be wise for the team to give him the starting role now while the veteran remains out for the rest of the season.

But here we are.

Like I’ve always said, play your best players. Nwosu has proven to be one, but the coaching staff seem to think otherwise.

Chargers LB Kenneth Murray has breakout game in blowout loss vs. Patriots

Chargers linebacker Kenneth Murray was all over the place.

There weren’t many positives from the Chargers’ worst defeat in franchise history last Sunday to the Patriots.

But there was one player, despite what the scoreboard displayed, that played hard until the final whistle was blown. That player was rookie linebacker Kenneth Murray.

Playing every snap due to LBs Denzel Perryman and Kyzir White being out, Murray made the most of them, roaming around like his head was on fire.

The former first-round pick finished with a season-high 14 tackles, bringing his total to 89. He had seven run stops and two tackles for loss. Most notably, Murray also picked up his first professional sack.

Even as New England continued to rack up points, Murray still gave 100% effort. Nick Vigil was at MIKE calling the plays in nickel and base defenses while Murray was calling the plays when the team went to dime packages.

Murray was at his best at making plays in front of him and laterally, stopping ball carriers as they tried to escape. The area that he will need to continue to get better at is in coverage, where he hasn’t been the most comfortable.

However, he has been put in a tough spot with both safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill, two of the team’s best coverage defenders, out with injuries.

All in all, given the circumstances, Murray has played well this season and it’s safe to say that he is just scratching the surface.

Chargers HC Anthony Lynn may take ‘hands-on’ approach with defense as fix to late-game meltdowns

The defense has become a large problem for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Led by rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, the Chargers offense is doing everything they can to win games. Los Angeles’ offense ranks No. 2 in the NFL, but somehow the results do not replicate that.

That’s when the attention gets shifted to the defensive side of the ball, where a common trend of starting hot but struggling to close out games has been the primary reason for the team’s meltdowns.

The defense ranks in the middle of the pack in the league from a statistical standpoint, but the issues lie much deeper.

Despite injuries to key players like safety Derwin James, linebacker Drue Tranquill and cornerback Chris Harris Jr., the team has enough talent to stymie the best offenses, which has been illustrated. But once the second half comes around, the unit goes into a shell.

So what’s going on? That’s when the spotlight shines on defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

Bradley, the man who deploys a heavy dose of zone coverage and very little blitzing, found himself having his infamous defense exploited and having issues with ball security and not so many takeaways, primarily in critical situations.

Playing zone comes at a risk. The zone defense limits big plays but provides windows for quick throws, and it doesn’t help when the pass rush is exhausted at the end of games.

Therefore, he’s mixed it up with more man defense, called a few more blitzes and utilized the defensive backs in different spots.

But the results have still been lackluster, and it became even more evident when the Chargers lost a 21-point lead last Sunday against the Broncos. Los Angeles remained in prevent defense, which allowed quarterback Drew Lock and company to dink and dunk their way back to a comeback victory.

It has gotten to the point where fans are calling for Bradley to be fired. The woes are clear, and that’s why while he might not be let go of right now, coach Anthony Lynn said that he may take a more “hands-on” approach with the defense going forward.

Prior to the season, Lynn but a big emphasis on winning the turnover battle, and defensively, it’s not where he would like it to be. Los Angeles has only forced six turnovers this season, which ranks second to last in the NFL.

The team has the reinforcements to get job done, but now we will find out if they can piece it all together the rest of the way out. If not, somebody will likely be out of a job.

4 takeaways from Chargers’ 31-30 loss to Broncos

Change needs to occur within the Los Angeles Chargers organization.

After suffering defeat to the Broncos on Sunday, the Chargers have now blown four consecutive, double-digit leads of 17 points, 17 points, 16 points, and 21 points respectively. Los Angeles has lost three of those games.

While many are still trying to figure out what happened in Empower Field at Mile High, here are my takeaways from Los Angeles’ 31-30 loss to Denver in Week 8.

Justin Herbert remains the bright spot

Herbert has been the primary reason that the Chargers have been in every single game this season, and it was no different on Sunday afternoon.

The rookie may have started out slow, boasting four drives that resulted in two punts, an interception and a turnover on down, but he kept cool and turned things around quickly after.

Herbert completed 13 consecutive passes. Included in that streak was all three of his touchdowns. He may have thrown an interception in the second half when trying to find wide receiver Mike Williams in the end zone, but that was his only hiccup.

At the end of the day, Herbert completed 67.4% of his passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns against one of the league’s most stingy defenses.

When you’re doing everything you can to put your team in position to win games, it then becomes the defense’s responsibility to back it up, which they failed to do.

Running game came to life

It was becoming evident that the running game was becoming nonexistent without RB Austin Ekeler in the starting lineup.

Prior to the game, rookie Joshua Kelley failed to surpass 30 rushing yards in the three outings prior to and Justin Jackson was coming off a performance where he only he ran for 12 yards.

Coach Anthony Lynn made it a priority that he wanted to get back to running the ball efficiently, and the unit came up in a big way. Facing a defense that was only allowing 109 rushing yards per game, the Chargers ran for 210 yards.

Jackson was the leading rusher with 89 yards on 17 carries, but Troymaine Pope, who signed off the practice squad, made the most of his opportunities, rushing for 67 yards on 10 carries. Kelley finished with 32 yards with his longest carry being 22 yards.

A lot of credit goes to the offensive line, who did a nice job of clearing holes for the backs all afternoon long.

Defensive meltdown

One of the biggest storylines to follow in this game was an issue that’s been ongoing all season, with that being the defensive consistency. Like any other given Sunday, the Chargers looked like a top ranked unit, but they fell apart out of the tunnel.

Los Angeles’ defense allowed four Denver touchdowns in just a quarter and a half. While there were missed tackles, blown assignments and coverages, and bone-headed penalties in critical moments, it’s coming to the point to where defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is the one to blame.

L.A. was making plays in the first half, but a lack of an adjustment was something that the Broncos exploited. Bradley failed to mix up the coverages and utilize different blitz packages to continue to stress QB Drew Lock.

Instead, he relied on his Cover 3 scheme, where Denver then had success. Lock went into the half with just 58 yards, but finished the game with 248 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s become clear that the team has the defensive players to get the job done, even with the injuries, but the lack of adjustments to hold a lead is becoming a consistent trend that they can’t afford to happen anymore.

Anthony Lynn is on the hot seat, again

Just when you thought three straight games of blown leads of at least 16 points was enough, the Chargers made you think again on Sunday. The thing that’s been commonly pointed to for these blunders has been injuries. But it’s reached a deeper level.

Lynn has struggled to adjust his game plan and strategy throughout to put full games together and get wins. Los Angeles is 3-14 in one-score games over the last two seasons. They are 0-8 in the AFC West over the same span.

Despite the injuries to key players, L.A. has more than enough talent to beat anyone in the league. They’ve shown that in the first two or three quarters by putting together huge leads, but those leads have gone to waste in each of those contests.

Lynn is coveted as the person he is, the strong voice he has and the impact he’s made in the community, but his coaching is not cutting it anymore.

Read the first sentence of this article again. Four in a row is just unacceptable, and it’s gotten to the point where change must occur, whether it’s getting rid of Lynn, Bradley or both.