For some, the rest of this season for the Los Angeles Chargers could easily be viewed as a lost cause.
After all, although they haven't been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, this team is nowhere near being able to suddenly dig themselves out of the 0-4 hole the offense has created. Almost nothing is clicking between Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert, and the recent slew of injuries facing the offensive line only makes the immediate outlook worse. It wouldn't be unreasonable to project a pair of losses to the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs over the next two weeks, which would leave the Chargers entering their bye with an 0-6 record.
Perhaps it's time to clean house—to move on from both the front office and the coaching staff that's left Los Angeles in this predicament. But the more likely scenario, at this point, is that Jim Harbaugh gets another crack at the job, perhaps with a new offensive coordinator. That means that, at the very least, Chris O'Leary still has a chance to prove himself as the Chargers' new defensive play caller.
We've already seen major improvement from O'Leary through four weeks. While it was always going to be a difficult task to fill Jesse Minter's shoes, O'Leary can provide Los Angeles with a silver lining this season by cementing himself as their defensive coordinator of the future. Whatever change may be coming for this organization this offseason, having at least one certain quantity can't be a bad thing for Los Angeles.
Chris O'Leary has done more than enough through four weeks to be optimistic about his outlook
There was reason to be concerned about some potential defensive regression for the Chargers after the departure of Jesse Minter, and it doesn't seem like we're out of the woods just yet.
Minter was such an effective defensive play caller because of his ability to both maximize the talent Los Angeles had in the secondary and dial up effective pressure packages that would consistently complement his zone-heavy coverage schemes. He was a perfect fit with Joe Hortiz, who's been known for his ability to identify defensive talent in the later rounds of the draft.
Minter was a floor-raising defensive coordinator. O'Leary, who had experience in that scheme prior to this season but had never called plays at the NFL level, was an unknown quantity.
Things started off for O'Leary in the worst way imaginable. The Chargers' secondary was absolutely cut through by Jacoby Brissett and the Arizona Cardinals offense, allowing Brissett to complete 27 of his 37 passing attempts for 277 yards and a touchdown. They then got chewed up by Kirk Cousins and the Las Vegas Raiders, ceding 253 yards through the air and three passing touchdowns to what was supposed to be a relatively benign offense early in the season.
The run defense did hold up well through those first two weeks, keeping Jeremiyah Love and Ashton Jeanty at bay, but it was reasonable to at least pose the question—would the bottom fall out against the Buffalo Bills' and Seattle Seahawks' potent offenses in Weeks 3 and 4?
Instead, O'Leary buckled down. While James Cook had a monstrous game in Week 3, the Chargers' secondary was largely able to limit the Bills' explosive-play opportunities through the air, and the defense kept Josh Allen in the pocket and under pressure for the duration of the matchup. Although Los Angeles ceded 30 points to Seattle in Week 4, it was a better game for the defense than it seemed on paper. The Seahawks finished the game with just two drives of over 44 yards, and O'Leary held his own when he was put in difficult positions by the offense time and time again. And this was without either Derwin James Jr. or Donte Jackson for the large bulk of the game.
Across the whole sample size so far, this Los Angeles defense is simply middle-of-the-pack. They're 19th in total passing defense, 11th in total rushing defense, 13th in sacks, eighth in pressure percentage, and seventh in turnover percentage.
But as the season falls apart around him, O'Leary is at least justifying the Chargers' faith in him by keeping this defense afloat. That deserves its credit, and if O'Leary is able to identify himself as the defensive play caller of the future for this Chargers organization, that's potentially another major decision that will be taken off the ownership's plate when we arrive at an absolutely pivotal 2027 offseason.
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