The LA Chargers are coming off an exciting week one victory vs the favored Washington Football Team and for once the ending had no drama, no questionable time management, no conservative play-calling, and no last-minute collapse.
All of this capped off Brandon Staley's first win as a head coach. So what does this mean for the rest of the season?
What to expect from the LA Chargers in 2021 after Week 1:
The first thing that we need to do is not get carried away after one week. Yes, Staley coached a magnificent game and deserves a lot of credit for the win, but bad coaches find ways to win sometimes.
What we should pay attention to is the last drive where the Chargers converted three times on third down with one of those being a third and 16. That same drive under the Anthony Lynn era would have ended in three straight runs up the middle resulting in Washington getting the ball back.
If that kind of aggressiveness late in the game continues Chargers' fans have a lot to be excited about.
The second thing is the significant improvement to the offensive line especially against a powerful front four in Washington. Corey Linsley was a massive upgrade, and Rashwan Slater looked like a future All-Pro tackle, absolutely dominating Chase Young to the point where he had to switch to the other side just to get any pressure on quarterback Justin Herbert.
If this keeps up we should see more passes downfield, bigger runs, and an overall much-improved offense from last year.
The third thing is something that needs to be improved on and that is red zone offense. The Chargers were just 2/6 in the red zone. A Justin Herbert interception and a ridiculous fumble call, highlight the plethora of red zone issues the Chargers encountered Sunday.
This should change, it's unrealistic to expect the LA Chargers to go 2/6 every week and this could have easily been 4/6 give or take a few turnovers and drops.
Overall LA Chargers' fans have a lot to look forward to this season, with continued great play out of Justin Herbert, a bolstered offensive line, and a revamped coaching staff that at least for the moment looks very competent, the Chargers could very well end up with a wild card spot.