Rams opposition research: Breaking down the Chargers...

Rams opposition research: Breaking down the Chargers

Andrew Ortenberg

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

The #FightForLA is finally here. Later today, the Los Angeles Rams will take on the Chargers at the Coliseum in the first matchup between Los Angeles’ two new teams. The battle for Southern California supremacy will feature an insane amount of talent on both teams, and should make for a very entertaining game.

The Chargers were beat solidly in their opener by the Chiefs, then crushed the Bills last week. The performance against the Chiefs wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed, they actually significantly out-gained Kansas City, and the Chargers will present the Rams with their biggest challenge thus far. Here’s what the Rams can expect on both sides of the ball:


Offense:

The Chargers have some of the best skill players in the league. Philip Rivers hasn’t aged at all and appears to be having a late-career resurgence if anything. He was amazing last year and has been phenomenal through two games this season, racking up 8.72 yards per attempt against Kansas City and Buffalo. Opponents have so much respect for Rivers and his knowledge of the game, ESPN recently did an article full of anecdotes from foes over the years recounting their favorite Rivers stories about times he dissected their defenses.

The Chargers were dealt a huge blow this offseason with the loss of tight end Hunter Henry for the season due to a torn ACL he suffered in OTAs. The team brought back Antonio Gates to help replace him, and also has Virgil Green at tight end.

This Chargers offensive line profiles as the best Rivers has had in years, with free agent acquisition Mike Pouncey headlining the unit. Another boost for the Rams is that the Chargers will be without their starting right tackle Joe Barksdale.

The real strength of the offense is the pass catchers, both receivers and running backs. Keenan Allen is one of the best receivers in the league, and last year’s number seven overall pick Mike Williams is starting to come on strong. Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin are as good as any No. 3/4’s in the league, and both Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler are skilled receivers out of the backfield.

To avoid targeting Rivers’ mortal enemy, Marcus Peters, too much on the outside, expect them to look to get Gordon and Ekeler heavily involved in the passing game. They’ll try to attack the middle of the field and get the Rams’ linebackers isolated on some of their playmakers. Rivers is by far the best quarterback the Rams have faced this year, and it will be interesting to see if Peters and Aqib Talib can keep up the dominant start they’ve gotten off to.

Defense:

The Rams caught a break in that All-Pro defensive end Joey Bosa still hasn’t recovered from his foot injury and will miss the game. It makes the matchup significantly easier for the Rams’ offensive line, as they can now focus all their attention on the Chargers’ other Pro-Bowl defensive end, Melvin Ingram.

The Chargers have a very talented secondary with shutdown corner Casey Hayward paired with emerging young corners Trevor Williams and Desmond King. Joining them in the back-end is rookie safety Derwin James, who has the look of an emerging star. The Chargers like to play James up near the ball and through two weeks he has two sacks and three passes defended.

Their defense is led by Gus Bradley, who has quite the resume as a defensive mind. First, he built the defense in Seattle that went on to become one of the best units of all time. After coordinating the Seahawks’ legendary defense and helping to create the vaunted ‘Legion of Boom’, he was hired to coach the Jaguars.

While his time as a head coach didn’t go very well, he built the pieces of Jacksonville’s defense that ended up becoming the league’s top unit last season. Then in 2017, he built the Chargers’ defense into one of the best in the league in just his first season with the team. He’s great schematically, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he landed another NFL head coaching job at some point.

Although the secondary is stocked with talent, the Chargers have been a bit susceptible to the deep ball this year, and McVay has surely taken note of that. Tyreek Hill torched them in Week 1 to the tune of 169 yards and two touchdowns. Brandin Cooks’ straight-line speed allows him to get behind defenses in a similar fashion, so expect to see Goff uncork a couple down the field in Cooks’ direction.

The Chargers’ main weakness has long been their linebackers. Last year they had a terrible run defense, and although it should be somewhat improved this year, that’s likely what the Rams will seek to exploit. Expect to see a lot of Todd Gurley early and often as Sean McVay looks to prevent Jared Goff from having to do too much against this talented secondary.

The bottom line:

The Chargers boast the best offense, and the best defense, that the Rams have had to go up against. While last week’s 34-0 drubbing of the Cardinals was nice, the Rams must understand this game won’t be anything like that. The Chargers always seem to end up in close, hard fought games, and there’s no reason to expect this one to be any different.