The Los Angeles Chargers offense, after what we saw in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, desperately needs their run game to start clicking.
It's hard to blame any of the backs, especially Omarion Hampton, specifically for how things went down in Week 1. The interior of the offensive line, while they largely held up in pass protection, was subpar in making room for the run across the second half of the game, and Los Angeles was largely playing from behind against the surprisingly efficient Cardinals offense.
Hampton saw just 12 touches for 43 yards on the day, and while he looked highly explosive in the first half, the production simply wasn't there. Needless to say, that was highly disappointing given the preseason expectations for his performance in Mike McDaniel's offense.
The breakout should be coming eventually if Hampton can stay healthy. Hopefully it can come against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
But if Week 1 is any indication of how the Las Vegas defense will perform this season, we might be waiting a bit longer to see Hampton and this offensive line truly unlock their potentially explosive run game.
The Raiders' run defense is better than the Cardinals'—and the Chargers are going to need a majorly improved performance in Week 2
If there was anywhere the Chargers should have been able to gain an edge over Arizona, it was on the ground. McDaniel's offense hinges on the success of its outside-zone ground attack, and having backs as explosive as Hampton and Keaton Mitchell should make that a primary part of their offensive identity. The Cardinals, moreover, finished last season as the league's eighth-worst rushing defense in terms of total yards. They didn't add much this offseason to inspire confidence in their ability to turn that around.
The Raiders, meanwhile, finished in the middle of the pack last season, allowing the 16th-most rushing yards in the league across the 17-game slate. The difference is that their additions this offseason seem to have changed their outlook a bit. They have three new starters among their front seven—Kwity Paye, Quay Walker, and Nakobe Dean—and those pieces made a difference in Week 1.
They limited the Dolphins' anaemic offense heavily on the ground. De'Von Achane posted a total of just 36 rushing yards, and his longest rush on the day went for a grand total of 10 yards. There were some missed tackles over the course of the game, but on the whole, Las Vegas' run defense looks much improved from last season, especially on the back of their re-shaped linebacker and cornerback rooms.
In theory, neither defense should be a match for McDaniel's offense on the ground, especially if the Chargers' offensive line is operating at top capacity. But if the Cardinals can stunt Los Angeles' ground game, who's to say that Las Vegas can't?
Things don't get any easier from there on out. The Buffalo Bills defense looked much improved in Week 1, and the Chargers will go on to face the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, and Kansas City Chiefs prior to their bye in Week 7.
If Hampton and the rest of the running back room is clicking, so will the Chargers offense as a whole. If the defense performs better against the inconsistent Kirk Cousins, perhaps Los Angeles will be able to lean more on their ground game, giving Hampton the chance to really get going.
But if we're going purely off of the small sample size of Week 1, don't hinge your confidence in the Chargers on that storyline.
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