LA Chargers: 3 improvements needed in second half vs. Bengals

The LA Chargers head into halftime against the Cincinnati Bengals with a 7-6 deficit.

The LA Chargers head into halftime in Week 1 with a deficit and things have not been all that great for the Bolts in their first half of 2020. Granted, a slow start was expected with no preseason games.

There have been plenty of bright spots for the Chargers. Most notably is the pass-rush, which has been phenomenal in getting pressure on Joe Burrow and limiting the Bengals‘ offense. That has been spearheaded by a great game from Jerry Tillery thus far.

However, Tillery’s neutral zone infraction on third and seven eventually led to Burrow’s scramble touchdown. Outside of that, the defense has been great.

The team also lost Drue Tranquill early to an apparent ankle injury. Tillery rolled over his own ankle and it did not look good. He could be out for the year.

Here are three improvements that need to be made in the second half.

1. Tyrod Taylor needs to be better

Tyrod Taylor had some good plays in this half. He had a deep dime to Mike Williams that set up the Chargers’ field goal and had some nice rollouts with throws to Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry.

However, outside of that deep bomb, he really has not made any difficult throws and he keeps overshooting open receivers. He seems so worried about turning the ball over that he is overcompensated.

He is also staring down his receivers far before he makes the throw, which is not going to be a good thing as the year goes on. The second the Chargers play a better defense that will be exploited.

Taylor finished the half with 158 yards while completing 10 of 20 passes. The yardage is there, but he needs to be more efficent in his throws if the Chargers are going to win this game.