LA Chargers: The good, bad and ugly in loss to New Orleans Saints

The ugly:

Michael Badgley and the rest of the special teams

We tried telling y’all two weeks ago. Some didn’t want to listen.

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Michael Badgley, as good as he is from close range, does not have the leg to be a reliable kicker from distance in the NFL. That is why in his three-year career (granted, he has not played every game every year) he has only attempted six 50-yard field goals and has made only two.

He missed the 50-yard game-winning field goal that would have prevented this game from going to overtime and would have given Justin Herbert his first-career win. The fans have flipped on the Money Badger. We tried warning you.

Oh, and we can’t leave out that he missed the team’s first extra-point of the game and with that extra-point, the New Orleans Saints would have had to go for two at some point and who knows what would have happened. Badgley left four crucial points on the table.

The entire special teams unit was horrendous in this one. Time and time again the Saints were able to start with fantastic field position because of a big return while the Chargers could not get anything going on special teams.

The best thing to happen to the Chargers on special teams in this game was Ty Long getting roughed for a first down. That literally was it.

Special teams have been an issue for years now and it probably (unfortunately) will continue to be an issue until there is a coaching change of some sort.

The offensive line

Philip Rivers would have crumbled behind this offensive line tonight and the Chargers would have scored 14 points. It is a testament that Herbert did what he was able to do considering he was running for his life the entire game.

Just another factor that makes his performance so impressive. The LA Chargers need to clean it up, though.