Heading into Week 2, the Los Angeles Chargers should be riding high. We should be basking in the comfortable glow of a blowout defeat of the Arizona Cardinals, and optimism should be skyrocketing regarding the offense under Mike McDaniel and the performance of the defense under Chris O'Leary.
Instead, Los Angeles is coming off a loss—one that could easily prove to be their worst of the season. With the slate they have ahead of them (especially in Weeks 3 through 10), it simply wasn't something they could afford. Even if you want to write off Week 1 as an anomaly (which would be fair), that loss sticks on their record with the same weight as a non-divisional loss at any other point in the season.
To balance the score and enter their upcoming gauntlet with any semblance of hope, Los Angeles is going to need to make clean work of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Here are three things they can do to ensure they get the job done:
3 keys to the Chargers' matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders
1. Generate pressure along the defensive line (and convert when they're able to)
It was difficult to narrow down one touchpoint on the defensive side of the ball here. The concerns were myriad in their loss to Arizona.
Of course, it will be important to limit Ashton Jeanty and the Raiders' ground game over the course of the matchup, but Los Angeles can afford to give up some ground there if they're able to take an early lead and take advantage of Kirk Cousins' inefficiencies in the passing game. That starts with their ability to generate pressure along the defense line—and specifically on the interior.
The Chargers came away with just eight pressures in Week 1, and a direct result of that was Jacoby Brissett's ability to complete seven different passes of 10 or more air yards. Cousins, for his part, went 1-for-7 for 21 yards and two interceptions on passes of the same distance in his matchup with the Miami Dolphins.
The Chargers' interior defensive linemen came away with just one pressure (from Jamaree Caldwell), which put unnecessary strain on the team's outside linebackers and, by extension, their zone-heavy defensive scheme as a whole. If Los Angeles is able to turn that around against Spencer Burford and Jackson Powers-Johnson, things could look much different in Week 2.
2. Get the ground game going against an improved Raiders run defense
The Chargers were playing from behind for much of the Cardinals matchup, so it's hard to take that game as true indicator of what this offense is capable of on the ground under Mike McDaniel. But I'll say this—12 carries for 43 yards is not good enough out of Omarion Hampton.
It ultimately comes down to the run protection along the interior of the offensive line. As much as Jake Slaughter, Kayode Awosika, and Cole Strange seemed to hold their own in pass protection (at times), their ability to create lanes for the run simply wasn't there over much of the second half. The Raiders, for their part, reworked their front seven this offseason, adding Quay Walker, Kwity Paye, and Nakobe Dean as new starters. Those additions reaped dividends in Week 1, as they were able to limit DeVon Achane heavily on the ground.
If it takes enhanced touches for Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal, so be it. But the Chargers' path to a clean win in Week 2 will be paved by the ground game.
3. Get the ball to Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris
If there was one silver lining from the Week 1 matchup, it was the fact that Ladd McConkey looked like the true star of the Chargers offense that we thought he could be all offseason. He totaled five receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.
The bad news is that the Chargers' other two primary receivers, Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris, combined for five receptions and 37 yards in the game. The even more concerning news is that McConkey is still dealing with a chest injury he suffered in the second half of that matchup with Arizona.
Even if McConkey plays, Johnston and Harris need to be a bigger part of the Chargers' gameplan. This air attack doesn't truly work just funneling the ball to McConkey out of the slot. They need Johnston to at least present himself as a major downfield threat, keeping opposing secondaries honest and creating room in the intermediate portions of the field for YAC opportunities for pieces like McConkey and Harris.
The Chargers shouldn't be forcing the deep ball (as we saw in Week 1), but for us to say this offense is truly clicking by the end of Week 2, it's going to take some enhanced performance from Los Angeles' WR 2 and 3.
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