Needless to say, the Los Angeles Chargers have to find a way to win this Week 4 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Their playoff hopes may very well already be out of reach. Only two teams this century have earned a playoff berth after starting the campaign 0-3—the 2018 and 2025 Houston Texans. Los Angeles has shown very little to this point in the season to justify any faith in their ability to turn things around, at least not quickly. After facing Seattle this week, they'll face off against a pair of division rivals in the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. They'll then need to face the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams, and Baltimore Ravens when they return from their Week 7 Bye.
If there's any hope of saving this season, it's going to take a series of major wins through this next slate of games. And that starts with somehow prevailing over the Seahawks.
The offense simply isn't going to be a quick fix. There's too many variables, and too many miscues, to believe that everything is just going to suddenly click for Mike McDaniel and that unit as a whole. The Chargers' path to beating the Seahawks, then, likely lies on the defensive side of the ball.
With starting quarterback Sam Darnold only having played one full game this season, it's difficult to truly analyze the Seattle offense and its vulnerabilities. But one weakness they clearly do have is in the run game, and with both Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price out, that's a vulnerability Los Angeles can capitalize upon.
Chargers defense may have a saving grace in Seattle's weak ground game
The primary concern for the Chargers defense still lies in the secondary. If Donte Jackson is forced to miss this game with his concussion, Darnold and star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba could simply blow the whole thing up at will. Smith-Njigba is currently averaging 135 yards per game even with Drew Lock at the helm for most of the first two matchups.
But like any team across the NFL, the potency of the Seahawks offense can be greatly reduced by taking away the run as a consistent option. Although the Chargers failed to do that against the Buffalo Bills, ceding 154 yards on 24 carries to star running back James Cook, they've shown signs of strong run defense to this point in the season.
They limited Jeremiyah Love to just 41 yards on 11 carries, and they held Ashton Jeanty to just 48 yards on 21 carries.
Notably, the Seahawks' ground game has struggled even with Price in the fold. Through three games, they are 20th in the league in total rushing yards and 22nd in yards per rushing attempt. Those numbers are somewhat respectable without their primary back in Charbonnet, who began the season on the PUP list after suffering a torn ACL in last yea'rs playoffs. But they spent a first-round pick on Jadarian Price (albeit a late one), and the expectations were clearly higher for what he could provide to the offense this season.
Even with Dalvin Tomlinson out for the second straight game with a hamstring injury, Los Angeles has the firepower to make life even more difficult for Seattle. The Seahawks will be depending on some combination of Emanuel Wilson and George Holani to get the job done. Each of Teair Tart, Justin Eboigbe, Jamaree Caldwell, and Nick Barrett have shown flashes of capable run disruption this season, and both Daiyan Henley and Troy Dye have been solid enough in the middle of the defense to have faith in their abilities to cover the second level and fill gaps along the defensive line.
Of course, none of this matters if the offense scores 14 points again. But the Chargers have a chance to salvage this season, in the meantime, by drawing their opponents into defensive duels, and they have a real shot at accomplishing that if they can capitalize on a vulnerable Seahawks offense in Week 4.
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