4. Win more close games in 2021
Now, some may say that this will change with the coaching staff but I need to see it happen before accepting that to be a fact. While Anthony Lynn has definitely had a role in the team not playing well in close games, there is a stigma that follows the Chargers (much like the Atlanta Falcons) in which they find new ways to lose.
Some of that has been Lynn’s fault, some of it hasn’t and we have to hope that 2021 is more like 2018, where they were actually winning these games.
It was not Lynn’s fault that Melvin Gordon fumbled at the goal-line last year, it was not his fault that Michael Badgley missed the game-winning kick in New Orleans, that Austin Ekeler barely dropped a hook and ladder touchdown, that Brandon Facyson committed a costly pass interference to give the Broncos one more shot at the endzone at time expired.
Of course, his decisions leading up to those moments is what put the team in a close game to begin with. However, this curse has been here long before Anthony Lynn.
Remember the 2006 AFC Divisional Game against the New England Patriots? What about in 2016 when they were up 13 against the New Orleans Saints with 6:50 remaining, fumbled twice and blew the lead… at home?
There is a reason why it is so exhausting to be an LA Chargers fan. Anthony Lynn has definitely added fuel to the fire, but he didn’t start the fire.