If there was a silver lining to take away for the Los Angeles Chargers from the Week 3 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, it was that their defense looked generally improved.
Although they got trampled on the ground by James Cook and company, that's largely a forgivable error. They were able to limit Buffalo's passing game through the air and keep Josh Allen confined to the pocket, and Chris O'Leary, for the first time in his Chargers tenure, actually showed some of his chops as a play caller. He was able to maximize Los Angeles' matchups in pass coverage, and he got some major plays out of his cornerstones as a result.
But things don't ease up for Los Angeles from here. They'll need to head into Seattle this week to face the Seahawks, and although their offense obviously needs to turn things around, any chance they have of coming away with a victory starts with, at the very least, replicating last week's defensive performance.
Here's the problem. The Chargers may very well be down their top corner in Donte Jackson as recovers from a concussion, and the Seahawks have the most explosive and dynamic receiver in the league in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
This will be O'Leary's greatest test yet in terms of an individual opposing player, and how he responds could define the momentum the Chargers are able to carry into the rest of the season.
The Chargers need to figure out a way to keep the Seahawks grounded in Week 4
Let's break down some of the looming matchup here.
Although Smith-Njigba has only played one full matchup with his starting quarterback Sam Darnold, he's still looked absolutely electric—posting 27 receptions, 405 yards, and six touchdowns through three games. Although Seattle lost last week to the Washington Commanders in relatively surprising fashion, they were still able to put up 31 points, and Darnold finished the game having completed 31 of his 45 passing attempts for 379 yards and four touchdowns.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were diced apart by Jacoby Brissett and Kirk Cousins in Weeks 1 and 2—most notably allowing multiple deep shots on blown coverage opportunities. With Jackson out, Los Angeles will need to lean on Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart (who's struggled notably this season) as their starting cornerbacks. Beyond that, they have UDFA Rodney Shelley—who absolutely has not looked like a viable NFL corner to this point in the season—and practice squad CBs Kaiir Elam and Isas Waxter.
If Elijah Molden is forced to miss more time, that's another blow that the Chargers secondary can't truly afford at this point.
Needless to say, things don't look good for the Chargers when it comes to limiting Smith-Njigba. What made Jesse Minter such an effective coordinator for Los Angeles, though, was his ability to limit explosive plays with staunch tackling and constant communication in the secondary. O'Leary, at the very least, has a similar schematic background—he simply has yet to fully put it together on the field with a new unit.
Seattle, for its part, is in the bottom-10 in the NFL in rushing efficiency, and none of their other receivers outside of Smith-Njigba have put up major production at any point this season. Cooper Kupp has totaled 101 yards through three games, and that's about the extent of their major offensive threats. There's some room for optimism there.
The Chargers managed to gain some momentum on the defensive side of the ball last week, even if the offense came up short. But if they give up even one or two explosive plays to Smith-Njigba in Week 4, putting the game out of reach for the offense, all of that momentum and gained morale could quickly come crashing down.
O'Leary will need to figure out how he wants to leverage his coverage to prevent that. Perhaps Derwin James Jr. plays a large part in slowing him down, or maybe some combination of Still/Hart will be sufficient.
But these are the battles that define an NFL playcaller and, when a campaign starts how the Chargers' has, a team's season. O'Leary will need to prevail if Los Angeles is going to come away with a desperately-needed win in Week 4.
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