Frustrations have reached a boiling point in Los Angeles as fans are beyond fed up with the LA Chargers playing defense at a high school level. For the second time this season, the Chargers allowed over 500 yards of offense in Week 10 against the Detroit Lions to waste an elite Justin Herbert performance.
After beating up on two replacement-level quarterbacks in Weeks 9 and 10, Brandon Staley’s defense was exposed for what it really is against the Lions. Any time the Chargers play a component offense and a good passer, bad things will happen.
It has taken a long, complex road for things to get to where they currently are but it all boils down to one thing: disconnection. For whatever reason, the defense that Staley wants to instill in the Chargers, which was a top-scoring defense in the league with the LA Rams, is failing to connect with the players he has in the locker room.
That is beyond evident after Week 10 and was confirmed by Chargers cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor in the days after the game. Taylor admitted to reporters that the Chargers are trying to fix the exact same mistakes every single week, which is why fans are so upset in the first place (h/t Jeff Miler, LA Times).
What’s that saying about the definition of insanity? I am pretty sure this applies. Despite having to fix the same mistakes over and over, as seen in the post above, Staley has no plans of making any significant defensive changes.
Brandon Staley is disconnected from reality and the Chargers are paying for it
The Chargers are going to live by Brandon Staley and they are going to die by Brandon Staley. We are in the third year of this defensive experiment and it still is not working but nothing is going to change. The Chargers are going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
Granted, the Chargers cannot institute a wholesale change halfway through the season and expect it to instantly fix the team’s problems. This issue is more complex than that and that is why the defense is as messy as it is.
That being said, the Chargers could certainly do something to change it up. Whether it be the frequency of certain calling certain coverages, putting players in a position to succeed, or Staley giving over play-calling duties just to get a fresh set of eyes calling plays; something can be done. But nothing is.
Taylor telling the media this is not meant to be a dig at Staley, he is simply revealing the reality of the situation. When a team makes the same mistakes over and over again it is usually a reflection of the guy that is leading the charge.
That guy right now is Brandon Staley, but it might not be for much longer if this continues.
