The Chargers released their final injury report on Friday before heading to Buffalo. For a team that's 0-2 going against arguably the best team in the league, it's not ideal. Players that have already been ruled out for Sunday include LG Kayode Awosika, LG Trey Pipkins III, TE Charlie Kolar, S Elijah Molden, WR Brenen Thompson, and DT Dalvin Tomlinson. Keep in mind that list doesn't include TE David Njoku as the Chargers already placed him on IR earlier in the week.
As a result of the team losing their top two left guards, HC Jim Harbaugh announced on Friday that Trevor Penning would make the start. Penning briefly played at RG for a drive against Las Vegas that resulted in a touchdown. At the time, Cole Strange was being medically evaluated. Penning was below Awosika, Strange, Pipkins, and Branson Taylor (currently on IR) in training camp rotations.
Things are looking grim for the Los Angeles Chargers as they take on the Bills.
Outside of the guard situation, the team will also be down their top two tight ends. Brenen Thompson will not play after he was injured in the game last week. It's a rough list for a team currently looking for answers on offense.
Molden and Tomlinson are also big losses defensively. Genesis Smith looked a lot less comfortable than Molden against the Raiders. That's to be expected as he is a rookie, but the Chargers definitely missed Molden's presence.
Tomlinson is also a big loss. The one true positive of the Chargers' season so far has been their elite run defense through two games. They're currently 5th in rush defense success rate and 7th in rush defense EPA/play. Tomlinson has played 65 snaps through two weeks and that number would be higher had he not been injured vs. the Raiders. Bills RB James Cook is one of the biggest rushing threats on LA's 17 game schedule.
The Bills also have key injury situations to monitor with WR DJ Moore, DT Ed Oliver, and WR Keon Coleman all listed as questionable for Sunday.
These injuries aren't impossible for the Chargers to overcome per se. But they definitely are lacking in depth at key positions coming into this game.
TE Oronde Gadsden II will need a big game to make up for the losses of Kolar and Njoku. Harbaugh mentioned him as being ready to step up. Considering all the injuries on offense and his hot streak from last season, he feels like one of the potential X-Factors the Chargers could lean on in the passing game this week.
The big challenge will be putting points on the board to keep up with Buffalo. And considering how the first two weeks looked on offense plus these key injuries, the Chargers probably deserve to be doubted in that aspect heading into Sunday.
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