LA Chargers roster: Complete breakdown vs. Baltimore Ravens
By Jason Reed
The LA Chargers are coming off of a huge home win over the Cleveland Browns and are on the road on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. This is the last game before the Chargers' bye week and a 5-1 record at the bye would be tremendous.
The first six weeks of the schedule is by far the toughest for the Bolts and if they emerge from this stretch with a 5-1 record then they are in a great position to win 12-13 games and win the AFC West. It is safe to assume that if they are 5-1 in those six that they will beat most teams that they should be later in the year.
The Ravens stand in the way of the Chargers being 5-1 and are one of the best teams in the AFC. It is going to be a battle between two talented rosters. But which roster has the upper hand?
Comparing the LA Chargers roster and Baltimore Ravens roster:
Special teams: Advantage, Baltimore Ravens
One team has Justin Tucker and the other team has Tristan Vizcaino. That alone is enough for the Ravens to have the special teams advantage over the LA Chargers.
However, it is deeper than that as the Bolts struggle in other areas as well. The punting is fine (although Brandon Staley does not do a whole lot of that) but the return game is not great. There have been some flashes but it has mostly been ugly.
It is a mixture of not having a dynamic returner while also not getting good blocks, especially on kickoffs. The Chargers started nearly every drive after a kickoff around the 15 yard-line against the Browns. That is horrible.
Next, let's compare the offenses