Brandon Staley took over the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021, fresh off a spectacular season as the defensive coordinator for the cross-town Rams. The innovative defensive architect earned kudos for his scheme, tactics and personnel deployment on Sean McVay’s staff, with the 2020 Rams finishing first in scoring D and total D. Moreover, the whiz kid was expected to elevate the Bolts into a title contender, with his creative approach meshing with a talented roster featuring multiple blue-chip players.
Here we are in Year 3 of the Staley regime, though, and his Chargers are 2-4, struggling to stay in playoff contention. There’s been plenty of discussion about the inconsistent production from Los Angeles’ Justin Herbert-led offense, but the bigger problem has been an underachieving defense. Under Staley, the Bolts have never finished above 20th in scoring defense or total defense. And the unit could be hitting a new low this season, currently ranking 25th in scoring D and 31st in total D. Considering L.A.’s defense features routine Pro Bowlers Joey Bosa and Derwin James, as well as a collection of hard-nosed defenders that includes a former Defensive Player of the Year (Khalil Mack), the disappointing performance from a group that appears exceptional on paper has been one of the biggest surprises within the football community.
Given the defense’s dismal performance in this past Sunday’s loss to the division-rival Chiefs — with Kansas City headliners Patrick Mahomes (424 passing yards and four touchdowns) and Travis Kelce (12 catches for 179 yards and a score) going bonkers — it is fair to wonder if Staley can fix the unit before it’s too late. After all, the Chargers’ slow start has many talking about the head coach’s job security — or lack thereof.
After reviewing the game tape, I just do not think Staley’s scheme gets the most out of the talent on hand. The coach prefers a split-safety system with the deep cover men positioned far away from the line of scrimmage to eliminate the explosives in the passing game. In addition, Los Angeles’ cornerbacks play soft on the perimeter to take away vertical throws while conceding short-to-intermediate routes on the outside.
The “bend, but don’t break” premise that Staley prefers is designed to play the odds that an offense cannot drive the length of the field without imploding due to a self-inflicted errors (penalties, negative plays or turnovers). But opponents have been successfully dinking and dunking their way down the gridiron, partially due to the Chargers’ inconsistent tackling in space. In addition, opposing offenses have been able to generate big plays against the Bolts by attacking the intermediate areas of the field on various catch-and-run concepts.
With the Chargers lacking the personnel to hold up in man-to-man and the discipline to play zone, quarterbacks are feasting on a defensive backfield that looks overmatched and overwhelmed on the perimeter. Staley has attempted to reshuffle his personnel (benching and eventually trading former big-ticket free-agent signee J.C. Jackson) and adjust his coverage preferences, but his tweaks have yet to pan out. Opponents continue to zip up and down the field, and Los Angeles has been unable to slow down the plus quarterbacks and aerial attacks on the schedule.
2023-10-27 22:37:00
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