The Los Angeles Chargers' season has already flown off the rails. With an 0-5 record and almost no path to a playoff berth, there's no way to avoid that reality.
But the remainder of the schedule still needs to be played, and the Chargers front office has some serious consideration to do as the trade deadline approaches. Is it best to sell off some of this roster's complementary pieces in order to amass some draft capital for this offseason? Or is it better to focus all efforts on a potential turnaround—at the very least to keep morale high over the remainder of the campaign?
A dramatic win in their final pre-bye matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs could go a long way toward answering that question. So, for that matter, could a blowout loss. With much of the offensive line still missing and the Chiefs looking relatively hot on both sides of the ball, it won't be an easy task to pull off the former.
Here are three storylines to watch as the Chargers try, once again, to salvage something from a season that has decidedly not gone according to plan.
3 storylines to watch as the Chargers face off against the Chiefs in Week 6
1. How productive (or limited) is Ladd McConkey in his return?
This offense just isn't the same without Ladd McConkey at full strength, and he really hasn't been there since suffering a rib injury in Week 1. He was available last week only on an emergency basis as he dealt with a foot injury, and you could clearly see how much the Los Angeles offense suffered without a reliable target to depend upon.
Jim Harbaugh said that he "doesn't know" whether McConkey or Johnston (who's slated to return after missing last week with a chest injury) will be held on any sort of snap count.
But any chance the Chargers offense has of putting up even a respectable performance against the Chiefs—who have one of the best passing defenses in the NFL to this point in the season—will depend on McConkey's ability to rip out some yardage on the underneath, anticipatory throws that Mike McDaniel continues to base his air attack upon. A productive week from McConkey, at the very least, could represent some signs of life for this offense.
2. How do the Chargers approach the O-line, and do we see any improvement from last week?
Obviously, Los Angeles' options are limited as long as Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater, Trey Pipkins III, Kayode Awosika, and Trevor Penning are out.
The Chargers were forced to start four rookies along the offensive line last week, giving Travis Burke and Alex Harkey the nod at the tackle spots and slotting in Logan Taylor at left guard alongside Jake Slaughter at center. They were about as consistent as you could expect that sort of line to be—allowing eight pressures over the course of the matchup. The problem was that. more often than not, those pressures turned into sacks—the Broncos had five on just those eight pressures.
Los Angeles has some optionality this week as Branson Taylor appears to be fully returned from his shoulder injury and UDFA Jacob Spomer remains on the bench as a potential center option. It's also notable that the Kansas City pass rush has been somewhat toothless so far this season—it's 18th in the league in pressure rate and 31st in total sacks.
Even some slight improvement on this front for the Chargers could make their chances at pulling out a surprising victory exponentially better.
3. Can Los Angeles establish the run against another qualified defense?
When you look at the whole picture of production, the Chargers' run game actually hasn't been all that abysmal this season. Through five weeks, Los Angeles is currently 10th in total rushing yards and 12th in rushing yards per attempt. But Omarion Hampton went for just 2.4 yards per carry last week against Denver, and a large chunk of the run game's production came either on Justin Herbert scrambles or Kimani Vidal's lone explosive run.
The Chiefs' defensive metrics to this point in the season have likely been buoyed by the caliber of offenses they've played, and it's hard to imagine they'll be in the same echelon as teams like the Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks by the end of the season. But that unit has allow the third-fewest rushing yards of any team this season, and it's holding opponents to the sixth-fewest yards per attempt.
Los Angeles seems to have found a semi-sustainable distribution of touches in its backfield over the past two weeks. Can that bring any sort of dividends against this Kansas City defense?
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