LA Chargers: Stifling James Robinson and 5 keys to defeating the Jaguars
The LA Chargers will come back from their bye week in an attempt to break their four-game losing streak against the Jaguars.
Chargers -7.5. 1-5. 52. 13. 1:25 PM PT. CBS. Sunday, Oct 25. 1-4
The Jacksonville Jaguars and LA Chargers are both hoping to get off the schnide with their first wins since Week 1. While the records indicate otherwise, the teams aren’t exactly that close in terms of talent.
The Chargers’ losses have come at the hands of the Chiefs, Panthers, Buccaneers, and Saints. Since their Week 1 win against the Colts, the Jaguars have lost to the Bengals, Dolphins, Texans, Browns, and Ravens.
The Chargers are favored to win the game by 7, which makes sense considering they are the better team. At the same time, Chargers fans have plenty of memories of the Bolts losing to teams they shouldn’t have.
Playing down to competition has been a problem for more than a while. In order to not take a bad loss here, let’s get into some of the things the Chargers have to do.
1. Get an early lead
The Chargers had pretty large leads in their losses to the Chiefs, Saints, and Buccaneers. Unfortunately, they blew the Saints and Bucs games in particular with a defense that struggled in the second halves of those games.
Quality offense has also been hard to come by in the second half. In those three losses I mentioned, the Chargers scored seven points or fewer in the second halves of each game.
Luckily for Los Angeles, they’re playing a team that’s not quite as capable in terms of playing from behind. Other than the loss to Tennessee, Jacksonville hasn’t done a lot other than score some garbage time touchdowns when they’re down.
The Jacksonville defense is also no longer “Sacksonville”. For the last two years, the Jaguars have ranked as a bottom 10 defense in the league. Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and New Orleans don’t have great defenses, but they certainly aren’t among the worst units in the league.
If the Chargers get the lead early, the Jaguars’ offense won’t be able to rally with Gardner Minshew playing hero ball.