The biggest issue for the LA Chargers last season fell on the defensive side of the football. Despite being a top-five offensive team in the league and having a defensive-minded head coach, the Bolts had one of the worst defenses in the entire sport.
Los Angeles simply did not have the talent to execute on Brandon Staley's gameplan and did not have the depth to overcome some of the injuries sustained. That is why the front office made is an emphasis to revamp the defensive side of the ball this offseason.
With the Chargers being very cautious in playing starters in the preseason, fans have not gotten to see this new-look defense against another NFL offense. However, fans did get a small taste this week as the Chargers and Dallas Cowboys held a two-day joint practice ahead of their preseason game on Saturday.
While the offense took its bumps in the joint practice, the defense faired pretty well against Dak Prescott and company. Prescott himself was asked about how the Chargers' new-look defense and fans are going to love the takeaway he had from joint practice (originally appeared on Chargers.com).
This is from Dak talking about going against our defense.
— Lightning Strike (@ChargersCommish) August 19, 2022
Liking the evolution of this D for sure. pic.twitter.com/dPlh6UIMIT
Prescott's comments about the Chargers' defense do hold a bit more weight than any random quarterback. Dallas faced the Chargers last year and Prescott saw the old Chargers defense that struggled (but still held Dallas to 20 points that game).
If the defense is right then the LA Chargers will be the best team in the league.
The Chargers are already regarded as having one of the best rosters in the sport and that is with many assuming that the defense will improve but not be one of the best in the league. If the defense is as good as we are hoping it will be then the Chargers very well might be the most well-rounded team in the sport.
We already know that the Chargers have a top-five offense in the league and that side of the ball arguably got even better this offseason. If Los Angeles can go from having a bottom five defense to having a top five defense then there won't be many teams that can stop them.
On paper the Bolts are primed to make this kind of jump but paper does not play football games. The team has to go out and prove that it is as dynamic as it has looked during practice and it starts in less than a month against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Until then, we will have to settle for Dak Prescott's word.