Justin Herbert is one of the best quarterbacks in the entire sport and he is going to be better than almost every quarterback that the Chargers face during the 2023 season. Herbert is someone who is impossible to gameplan around and other teams simply have to cross their fingers and hope he has an off night.
Herbert can put together a good game against any team but when playing a bad defense and secondary, Herbert can put together eye-popping performances. Throw in a new offensive coordinator that fans are excited about in Kellen Moore and we could see some huge Herbert games in 2023.
Let's dive into the worst defenses that Herbert and the Chargers will face that fans should already be circling on the calendar.
5 easiest defenses Justin Herbert and the Chargers face in 2023:
5. Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have potential to outperform the expectations around them and there is a chance by the time the Chargers host the Lions that they won't be a bottom-five defense that LA plays. After all, there is some exciting young talent on this roster, including rookies Jack Campbell and Brian Branch.
That being said, the young players on the roster have a lot of heavy lifting to do as the defense was one of the worst in the entire league last season. Detroit ranked 28th in points against, 32nd in yards allowed and 28th in defensive DVOA.
Those numbers are not great but they are destined to improve with the new faces that the team has added to the roster this offseason.
4. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are not a team that fans think about when discussing bad NFL defenses. Mike Vrabel is a great head coach and his guys always play hard regardless of the talent on the field. Plus, it was not that long ago that the Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC behind a great run game and strong defense.
That being said, the defense took a step back last season and was disappointing for Vrabel's standards. The Titans ranked 19th in defensive DVOA, 14th in points allowed and 23rd in total yards allowed. Those metrics are not terrible, but they certainly are not great.
So why rank them below a team like the Lions? While the Lions made some savvy additions to the defense and are getting younger, the Titans did not really do much of anything to replace the players they lost on defense this season.
Despite trending in the wrong direction on that side of the ball and losing key players like David Long and Bud Dupree, the Titans did not draft a single defensive player in the 2023 NFL Draft. Sure, they added some mediocre free agents but that likely won't be enough to make a difference.
The arrow is pointing down for the Titans and while the Chargers could only score 20 against them in 2022, the Bolts could be in for a huge offensive game against Tennessee in 2023.
3. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders have one of the worst defenses that the Chargers will face in 2023 and thankfully, Herbert and co. get to see the Raiders twice. While anything can happen in a divisional game, the Chargers should be able to beat the Raiders both times in 2023.
These two teams did split last year's season series but that came with a caveat. The Chargers were missing essentially the entire starting offensive line in the second matchup and had a quarterback that was dealing with fractured rib cartilage. And they still scored 20 points in the loss.
With health and Moore calling the offense, the Chargers should be better suited to take advantage of the lack of talent on the defensive end for the Raiders. Vegas does have a solid pass rush led by Maxx Crosby and Tyree Wilson but the secondary and linebacker core leaves a lot to be desired.
Vegas ranked 31st in defensive DVOA last season and did not really do much to improve on that side of the ball this season. Taking Wilson in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft is a great long-term play but he has health concerns and may take time to develop in the NBA.
This is a really bad secondary and the Chargers have their deepest wide receiver room in years. The Bolts could absolutely score 30 points in each of the two games against the Raiders.
2. Chicago Bears
Many people would rank the Chicago Bears as the worst defensive team in the league. After all, the Bears were the worst defensive team in the league last season and it was not particularly close. Chicago ranked 32nd in defensive DVOA, 32nd in points allowed and 29th in total yards allowed.
Chicago should at least take some step forward and shouldn't be the worst defensive team in the league next season. After all, the Bears did add some talent to the defensive side of the ball that should help turn things around in 2023.
But they still are not going to be a good defensive team or relatively close to that. Chicago should be considered a lock to be a bottom-five defensive team in the league and as long as the Chargers don't get in their own way they should be able to have a monster game.
This Bears game feels very similar to the Cleveland Browns games from the last two years. The Browns had one of the best rushing attacks in the sport and could take advantage of the Chargers' weaknesses against the run. They also had a bad defense so the result was an offensive shootout.
That could be the case here. The Chargers are not geared well for a Justin Fields-led offense and that could give the Chargers a lot of headaches defensively. That will turn the dial up for the offense and we could see a similar game to the 2021 matchup between the Chargers and Browns.
Hopefully, it can be a bit more comfortable and the Chargers won't allow the Bears to score 42 points but this is a sleeper for being one of the best games of the year. That is why the NFL put it on primetime.
1. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings had one of the worst defenses in the league last season but most pundits would probably still rank the team ahead of the Bears. It really is a toss-up between two really bad defenses but at the end of the day, Minnesota is probably going to be worse off in 2023.
Minnesota ranked 27th in defensive DVOA, 28th in points allowed and 31st in total yards. Those are already bad numbers and when you factor in who the Vikings actually played last year it is pretty obvious that this defense was even worse than the stats suggest.
Minnesota played a regressing Aaron Rodgers twice, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Dak Prescott. In those games, the defense allowed an average of 31.6 points per game. Aside from those five games, Minnesota caught some breaks with the quarterbacks they got to play and still had a bad season defensively.
Add in the fact that the Vikings got worse on the defensive side of the ball this offseason. The team just traded Za'Darius Smith and saw the likes of Patrick Peterson and Eric Kendricks walk in the offseason.
This is going to be a really bad Vikings defense and the Chargers should be able to go into U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 3 and score at ease. Moore's offense scored 40 points against the Vikings last season and this Chargers team is more talented than that Cowboys team.