2. The offense play-caller needs to lose his arrogance
In a perfect world, the LA Chargers would part ways with Joe Lombardi now and let Shane Day call plays the rest of the way. The play designs are not going to change that much but the philosophy might because right now, the offensive philosophy is broken.
Joe Lombardi has been inconsistent yet has consistently tried to run the same offensive operation week in and week out. Steven Haglund of the Guilty as Charged podcast had a perfect breakdown about Lombardi and what went wrong on offense in Week 13. It extends past Week 13 as well.
The word of the day for me regarding the Chargers' offense and the way they approached this matchup against the Raiders is arrogance. I've been patient but I'm officially out on Joe Lombardi. pic.twitter.com/kQagAhrw2e
— Steven Haglund (@StevenIHaglund) December 5, 2022
Justin Herbert was missing 80% of his offensive line against the Raiders and the team ran the same plays, packages and calls that they would have ran otherwise. They didn't go to the run with Joshua Kelley even though it worked. They didn't move the pocket and get Herbert max protection. Nope. It was just another Sunday.
This has been the case all season and is probably why the offense always sputters in the second half. This is a predictable Chargers offense and once teams get a look at what they are doing in any particular matchup, its over. They can adjust and Lombardi's arrogance that his way will work hurts the team.
Just go back and watch this team on offense all season. The best the offense looks is when their backs are against the wall and Herbert has to play backyard quarterback. Obviously, that is not sustainable across an entire game but the operation shouldn't be smoother in these situations. Yet they are.
Lombardi isn't going anywhere this season. Maybe Staley has to have a bigger hand on the offense. It probably won't change but it absolutely has to if the team is going to do anything.