The Los Angeles Chargers went to the playoffs last season.
With that in mind and a young, talented quarterback on the roster, a step forward was expected this season.
Considering the Kansas City Chiefs stumbled a bit, it’s fair to say this could have been the year they competed for the division crown and hosted a playoff game.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go at all according to plan for the Chargers.They were not a good team at all and missed the playoffs by a wide margin.
This step forward was ultimately a fairly significant step backwards which cost them dearly.
Here’s why this happened.Brandon Staley had an argument for being the worst coach in the NFL.
This was evident last year when they suffered a stunning playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It was shocking that he kept his job after that.
A defense with players like Derwin James, Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa shouldn’t be as bad as theirs.
If a team has a defensive coach and cannot bring the defense to an adequate level, the coach is not good.
Staleu has arguably been holding Los Angeles back for some time, and that’s one of the reasons they’ve struggled this season.
The injuries Los Angeles suffered were significant.
Losing Mike Williams this year hurt a lot because it affected the offense to some extent. Joey Bosa, Justin Herbert, Chris Rumph, Andrew Trainer and several others were placed on injured reserve during the season.
It’s hard to deal with so many major losses, especially when everything else isn’t going smoothly.
He stretched the team and they couldn’t overcome him.Justin Herbert may have been the only thing keeping this team together.
Things have gone against him with injuries and a terrible coach, but he is a great quarterback.
Losing a star QB like that, regardless of who the backup is, often leads to missing the playoffs.
Even teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals failed to reach the postseason with big backups who played reasonably well.
The Los Angeles Chargers are not equipped to handle the loss of Herbert, so him going on IR put the nail in the coffin of the team’s season once and for all.
