The LA Chargers are playoff bound for the first time since 2018 and the team is hoping that isn't the only thing they get to celebrate this season. Making the playoffs is just the first step and now it is time for the Bolts to make some noise as they try to make it past the AFC Divisional Round for the first time since 2007.
Los Angeles certainly has the talent to make a deep run, is getting hot at the right time and is even getting get returners on both sides of the ball. All of these factors make the Chargers the prime candidate to be 2022's version of the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals. But they still have to put the work in and get it done.
Chargers fans know that this is not a perfect team and as is the case with literally every Super Bowl-winning team, the Bolts are going to need certain things to happen in order to make this dream run.
3 things that must happen for the Chargers to make the playoffs:
1. Keep the good injury luck flowing
This is the most obvious of the three things but it is still worth mentioning. The LA Chargers are finally getting healthy at the perfect point of the season and that is going to give them a big advantage in the playoffs while other teams could be hitting their injury bug.
This team still fought and competed through the injuries but we all have seen the massive difference when this team is healthy versus when they are not healthy. Los Angeles simply does not have the depth, particularly on offense and on the offensive line, to overcome key injuries to make a Super Bowl run.
Injuries will undoubtedly happen between now and the Super Bowl, that is just how football works, but avoiding the same avalanche that swarmed over the team earlier in the season is key. Unfortunately, this part of it is just luck. LA needs more good injury luck.
2. Get a favorable first-round matchup
In the playoffs, you are going to have to play the best teams in the league no matter what and you cannot nickel and dime your way to the Super Bowl with easier opponents. That being said, starting the postseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars or Tennessee Titans is far different from starting with the Bengals or Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chargers must win the final two games of the year and hope Baltimore loses one in order to secure the fifth seed and get the winner of the AFC South. That would by no means be an easy game for the Bolts, but it would give them a much better chance of advancing to the second round.
And by then, anything could happen. There could be another upset in the wild-card round, knocking out one of the key competitors in the Bengals or Chiefs. If both wild card teams lose, the Bengals and Chiefs would slug it out in the divisional round while the Chargers would play the Bills (assuming they keep the no. 1 seed).
Buffalo is obviously a great football team but this would at least give the Chargers one easier game instead of having to beat the Bengals, Chiefs and Bills in three straight games to make the Super Bowl. That is tough.
Just look at last year's Bengals as a prime example. They got the worst playoff team in the Las Vegas Raiders in round one, got the worst one seed in recent history in round two with the Titans, and then got the Chiefs in the AFC Championship after their emotional win over Buffalo.
I love this team and hopefully they prove me wrong, I just can't see them beating the three AFC juggernauts in consecutive weeks. They need one break.
3. Something has to change with this Chargers offense
The idea that the Chargers are going to completely reinvent the offense with two more weeks to play in the regular season is a silly one. Like it or not (you likely hate it), this is Joe Lombardi's offense and it is going to stay that way for the rest of the season.
While we are not going to get a complete overhaul, we can get tweaks from Lombardi and co. to maximize the talent that is on the field. After all, the Bolts have a superhuman quarterback under center and some healthy weapons for him to throw to.
Most notably, the third-down and red-zone play-calling simply have to be better. There is zero excuses for this team's inability to throw the ball effectively in the red zone when they have Justin Herbert under center. Every fan is sick of seeing the route trees be "run to the first down marker/goal line and turn around".
Outside of that, the Chargers can and need to start leaning more into what works. This offense is at its best when they move the pocket and get Justin Herbert moving. He proved that against the Miami Dolphins in Week 14. Yet still, Lombardi has gone away from that in the ensuing weeks.
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This offense has the talent and the potential to be truly special and that is what you need to make a Super Bowl run. The team just has to stop getting in its own way.