The Chargers were embarrassed by the Patriots, suffering their worst defeat in the team history on Sunday, 45-0.
Here are four things that I took away from Los Angeles’ Week 13 loss:
Worst performance yet
Prior to the game, coach Bill Belichick had the highest praise for quarterback Justin Herbert. While everything he said about his strengths sounded good, Belichick is notorious for exploiting rookie signal-caller’s weaknesses, which is what he did on Sunday afternoon.
The Patriots gave Herbert no room to breathe, pressuring him 26 times, hitting him 11 times and sacking him three times. As a result, the 22-year old completed only 26 of his career-high 53 attempts for just 209 yards and two interceptions.
With how bad the deficit was and how much of a beating Herbert was taking, there was absolutely zero reason for him to stay on the field.
Following the game, coach Anthony Lynn said that he “wanted to be in the game with his teammates.” Herbert told reporters that he didn’t recall having a conversation with Lynn about coming out of the game,
“I can’t really remember the situation on the sideline,” Herbert said. “I just knew I was going to go back in, kind of regardless of what the situation was. I was going to be out there with the team.”
Special teams implosion
The Chargers made some changes to the coaching staff, demoting George Stewart and promoting Keith Burns and Chris Caminiti, in hopes of improving the special teams unit. However, the changes didn’t pay off and they actually might’ve made matters worse.
Los Angeles allowed two touchdowns on a punt return and a blocked field goal. They also missed a field goal and committed two penalties on punt returns with a false start and 10 men on the field, all of which came in the first half.
”It was unacceptable, special teams was,” Lynn said. ”The whole operation. Today got confusing on the field. It was unacceptable.”
Run defense on the decline
The Chargers look good on paper against the pass, but that’s because their opponents aren’t resorting to the air as much. Instead, they’re exploiting a clear weakness on the defense, which is on the ground.
Cam Newton and the hard-running Patriots made life difficult for Los Angeles, carrying the ball for 165 yards and two touchdowns. In their last three games, L.A. has combined to allow 144.3 yards per game.
The Bolts struggled to get up front, allowing clean holes for the ball carriers and defenders were late to rally to the ball or simply looked uninspired to make plays.
Without linebacker Denzel Perryman, rookie Kenneth Murray appeared to be the only one of the defensive side of the ball who wanted to play. Murray finished the game with 14 tackles (12 solo), two tackles for loss and the team’s only sack.
Time to cut ties
Prior to the game, Anthony Lynn had done enough to show that he’s not worthy of staying around as the team’s head coach anymore. But the shutout loss was the cherry on top.
While he’s coveted for keeping his players motivated, the scoreboard should be indicative of how motivated the guys were. Most importantly, the decision-making deficiencies were on full display, most notably on special teams and keeping Herbert in the game.
Lynn is a good person and is good with running backs, but he is not a good head coach. Owner Dean Spanos and company need to do the right thing and fire Lynn now rather than later. The longer they hold off, the more that they’re doing a disservice to the fans.
