The Chargers and Titans are hoping to dig themselves out of a hole, each sitting with 2-4 records.
Here are Los Angeles’ keys to victory over Tennessee on Sunday.
Strike early and often
The Chargers have been scoreless in the first half the past two games. Failing to get into an offensive rhythm and miscues on both sides of the ball have hindered them from getting onto the scoreboard and they’ve been forced to play catch-up in the second half.
It all starts up front in the trenches for the Bolts. If their offensive line can set the tone by buying time for quarterback Philip Rivers and create holes for running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler, they should get back to their old ways at getting on top quickly.
Slow down Derrick Henry
Knowing how poor the Chargers rush defense has been the past two weeks, the Titans will look to pound the rock with Henry. Henry was slowed down by a stout Broncos defense last weekend, but on the season he’s amassed 416 yards and four touchdowns.
Los Angeles will be playing without two of their starting defensive tackles, Brandon Mebane and Justin Jones, which means they’re going to look to gash it up the middle with hardly in beef up front. Defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Uchenna Nwosu will need to crash down from the edge to make plays.
Most importantly, the second lines of defense can’t afford to take bad angles to the football and they must wrap up and bring down Henry, who isn’t the easiest to tackle to begin with, given his imposing stature and physical brand of football.
Suffocate Ryan Tannehill
The Titans haven’t done a great job at protecting their quarterback this season. They’ve allowed a league-high 29 sacks to this point. The Chargers, who have struggled at applying pressure, will have the opportunity for a monstrous game.
If the defensive front can get to Tannehill, it’ll only makes the lives even easier for the defensive backs. Not to mention, Tennessee ranks near the bottom in passing yards per game the last three game (180.7), so they could be in line for solid defensive performance on Sunday if they execute.
