LA Chargers: Decision time on Justin Herbert and 5 Week 4 overreactions

Overreaction #2: Michael Davis is a playmaker, and he needs to be incorporated more into the defense

Of all players to make the most critical play of the game, Michael Davis was that hero in Week 4.

With the Buccaneers on the move, Michael Davis did an excellent job of reading the route and Tom Brady’s eyes, undercutting it and burning the offense with his speed to take it for six.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1312807470608252929

The last two weeks, the LA Chargers’ losses were largely dependent upon losing the turnover battle. While the offense has been a bit reckless with the ball, the defense has only been able to cause two turnovers over the first three weeks, which is far less than ideal, particularly for a Gus Bradley defense.

Could Michael Davis be the solution to this problem? Should the Chargers seek to find a more permanent role for Davis once the secondary returns to full health?

While Davis has a knack for the splash play, that has come at the cost of giving up splash plays far too often in his career.

The reason that Michael Davis got that interception was largely due to his playing style. Davis has frequently been aggressive on shorter routes in his career, which leaves him open to getting burned on double moves.

In fact, on the prior drive, he was beat by Mike Evans for a deep pass on a similar move.

While it can be incredibly impactful to make splash plays as Davis did in this game, they need to be tempered by some caution to avoid getting burned deep.

Davis has done a far better job of doing this and locating the ball this year than he has in previous years, and improvement is evident in his game. However, with elite players typically ahead of him on the depth chart, Davis will need to do better against deep routes to be considered for consistent playing time despite his playmaking ability.

Verdict #2: Overreaction