Jim Harbaugh is playing with fire while Chargers playoff hopes are on the line

The Los Angeles Chargers, and head coach Jim Harbaugh, have been faced with an inordinate amount of challenges this season as a result of their dismal struggles with injury, now having lost both star tackles and both of their running backs for significant portions of the season.

Yet, as the team faces down a six-game stretch that will wholly determine the outcome of their playoff hopes, the coaching staff's continued experimentation with the offensive line, while necessary, does not bode well for their chances.

Although Jamaree Salyer got the starting reps at practice on Tuesday, Harbaugh has said that a number of players could be in the mix to start at left tackle against the Las Vegas Raiders. While they desperately need improvement on that side of the line, their playoff hopes will become dimmer and dimmer the longer it takes them to sort that out concretely.

The Chargers' offensive line needs to find stability as quickly as possible

Although the devastating injury luck that the Chargers' have suffered is by no means the coaching staff's fault, the organization's decision to neglect to provide the team with proper depth in the offseason, with Mekhi Becton (who has been one of the worst guards in the league) being their only major signing, has come back to bite them in a major way.

Now, Harbaugh is left with very few options and very few players with genuine and extensive starting experience with which to fill the two tackle slots. Trey Pipkins III has done an alright job filling in at right tackle when needed, but his play has by no means been sufficient.

What is scary is that the revolving door of players at left tackle have been even worse. In Alt's absence all of Bobby Hart, Austin Deculus, Trevor Penning and Salyer haven seen snaps, and none have looked particularly effective.

Penning, specifically, has been disastrous in his short tenure with the team. In his first start against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he allowed so much pressure from his side of the line that he was ultimately benched in the second half.

Harbaugh has said that his hope is to solidify the line for the rest of the season following the Raiders game, but how realistic of a possibility is that? Will one of these player step in and suddenly be effective, especially against a pass rush that features Maxx Crosby?

While, at this point, it is unavoidable, the fact that the coaching staff is still essentially grasping for straws with the offensive line at this mark in the season has the potential to be absolutely disastrous down the stretch.