LA Chargers: 5 things to improve on in Week 5 vs. New Orleans

2. Don’t let Drew Brees dump it off to Alvin Kamara

It’s no secret the LA Chargers struggle against receivers out of the backfield, and Sunday against the Buccaneers was no different. However, they were bailed out by many drops from Ronald Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn. That won’t happen with Kamara.

Kamara is one of the best, if not the best receiver out of the backfield in the league. Only Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey are in the same conversation. Kamara has had a catch rate above 80% in three of his four seasons in the league (counting 2020).

He has posted an exact number of 81 catches in all three of his seasons, a very impressive feat in every regard. He is already on pace for 120 catches in 2020.

Brees will look for Kamara often, whether he’s pressured or not. The Chargers will need to be very careful of him if they want to have success pressuring Brees. If he’s allowed to dump it off to his safety valve, the Chargers defense will find themselves on the field for long periods of time.

Brees doesn’t have the same arm he once had, and while he’s still one of the smartest quarterbacks in the game, I would take my chances if the game has to be put on his arm.

Brees will probably get his best receiver, Thomas, back, but it’s still a pass-catching corps that is lacking in threats besides Thomas and Kamara, with Jared Cook missing and Emmanuel Sanders underperforming. If Kamara is given the opportunity, he can single-handedly carry the Saints to a win against a defense that struggles badly against receiving running backs. That is how good he is.