Well, there you have it, Chargers Nation. The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions once again, leaving our LA Chargers heading into 2023 chasing a dynasty in their very division.
I'm mad about how our season ended as I'm sure most of you are, but as painful as it is to see the Chiefs win their rings while dominating the AFC West year in and year out, this is the biggest learning opportunity the Bolts could have asked for as Justin Herbert rolls into his fourth professional season.
The Chiefs are the mark right now. They are the standard every NFL team needs to hold itself to whether we like it or not. We can either learn and grow or hold steadfast and never move an inch. We can seethe and hate the Chiefs, or we can recognize we need to take their blueprint. The former options end with the Charger wasting Justin Herbert's career and the latter options end in Justin Herbert bringing this franchise its first Super Bowl.
4 things the Chargers can learn from the Chiefs' Super Bowl run:
1. Offense is paramount in today's NFL
I'm stating the obvious here, but it needs reiteration knowing how mightily the Chargers struggled on offense this year with injuries up the wazoo and some of the worst play-calling in recent NFL history.
Eight of the last eleven Super Bowl winners have scored 28 or more points in their Lombardi-clinching game.
The Chiefs this season averaged 29.2 points per game, leading the league. The Rams last season averaged 27.1. The 2020 Buccaneers averaged 30.8. The 2019 Chiefs averaged 28.2. The 2018 Patriots averaged 27.3. The 2017 Eagles averaged 28.6. The 2016 Patriots averaged 27.6.
I think you get the point by now. Defense is not something that should be forgone by any means, but more often than not, scoring masks all.
Just score points. These recent Super Bowl teams understood that. The NFL wants points to be scored. Refs call games to favor the offense. Everybody and their mother at this point should understand you need elite scoring to win championships, and yet some teams still want to lean on their defense, including our very own Chargers this past season.
Joe Lombardi is out. Kellen Moore is thankfully in. Under him, the Cowboys averaged:
- 27.5 PPG this year
- 31.2 PPG last year (led the league)
- 24.7 PPG in 2020
- 27.1 PPG in 2019
Let's score some damn points for a change with our elite quarterback and stop letting worse quarterbacks go on deep playoff runs while our guy gets chastised because his play-calling is terrible.
"27-0" could have been avoided if more than three passing calls over 20 yards were implemented.