The Los Angeles Chargers, needless to say, are in desperate pursuit of a win coming out of their bye.
This team is 0-6, and postseason play is certainly already out of the question. Even 11 straight wins would simply put them on the edge of contention for a Wild Card berth. With the way this team has played so far, even a pair of wins stringed together seems like a far-off possibility.
At the very least, though, things looked at least somewhat positive when the Chargers entered their bye. They were anticipating the returns of multiple players from injury—including starting offensive linemen Kayode Awosika and Joe Alt—and the Rams had just suffered an excruciating home loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. For a team with Super Bowl expectations prior to the season, the Rams looked lost and relatively hamstrung by the injuries they'd faced to this point in the campaign.
The former part of that equation hasn't changed for the Chargers—at least as far as we know heading into the new week of practice. The latter part certainly has.
The Rams posted a dominant, 35-21, win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7 while the Chargers rested, finding their full form offensively again (of course) just in time for their matchup with their LA counterparts. There's a chance this team is rolling again, and the Chargers may very well need to wait until their Week 9 matchup against the Houston Texans for a true shot at earning their first win of the season.
The Rams' Week 7 turnaround leaves the Chargers at a major disadvantage heading into post-bye matchup
Any given Sunday.
That's the mantra that Chargers fans with any level of optimism have been repeating to themselves on a weekly basis since this season first went off the rails against Arizona. And theoretically, there is room for a major offensive turnaround for this team. Justin Herbert is still there, with all of his talent and ability to take this team on his shoulders—it's a matter of Mike McDaniel's ability to figure out how to properly leverage and capitalize upon the talent Los Angeles has around him.
Perhaps the bye week gave the coaching staff some desperately needed time to reflect on its failures and adjust the scheme accordingly. But even if the Chargers come out looking viable offensively—which would be a massive improvement from what we saw through the first six weeks—it's going to take a sub-par performance from the Rams offense to even make this game competitive.
Coming off of the Cardinals matchup, that seemed like a real possibility for a struggling Rams team. The Rams compiled just 286 total yards in that game, going 4/10 on third-down opportunities and losing the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes. It was a death by a thousand paper cuts to a clearly sub-par offense.
They also left that game with a 2-4 record, and they lost Davante Adams and Poona Ford to injury—two major pieces for that squad on their respective sides of the ball.
Another loss in Week 7 to a sneakily competitive Raiders team may have represented another blow to the Rams' morale and momentum. Instead, they found a way to bounce back, taking a commanding lead early in the game and only relenting in the final minutes as Kirk Cousins found a way to salvage the outing for the Las Vegas offense.
Matthew Stafford finished the day having 23 of his 29 passing attempts for 195 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The Rams as a whole posted 199 rushing yards, and Kyren Williams and Blake Corum both averaged over 5.0 yards per attempt.
It was, in short, a get-right game for this Rams offense. And that's something the Chargers can ill afford as they try to avoid an 0-7 start to the season.
When the Chargers do eventually get a win this season, it's likely going to come on the shoulders of their defense. But that unit took a discouraging step back against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6, and their ability to limit the Rams offense, especially on the ground, should be a major question mark heading into this matchup.
It's not surprising that Los Angeles is heading into another matchup with a projected loss. But, of course, the one thing that could've gone their way during the bye week, simply didn't.
Add us as a preferred source on Google