The Chargers are a 4-2 team, which seems impressive, but you should note that they have lost to the Giants, a 0-3 team at the time. The main reason for this was that 60% of their linemen were injured. The Giants have a very good D-line, so they just beat the Chargers’ O-line of mostly backups. Along with the highly injured line, they have 10 other people hurt. Most of them are defensive players, consisting of Junior Colson, Denzel Perryman, and others.
The 3 most important injuries are Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater, and Khalil Mack. Alt and Slater are our 2 starting tackles. Joe Alt is very young at 22, and Slater is young too at 26. They made a great duo with Alt at right tackle and Slater at left. Slater was injured in the preseason with a torn patellar tendon. He is out for the season. Alt recently suffered a high ankle sprain, which will keep him out for multiple weeks.
With all that information, the main question is how this will affect the rest of the Chargers’ season. This could ruin the Chargers’ season. They can not get their passing game going without their 2-star tackles. The entire strength of this year’s team lies in our passing game, complemented by our strong line. Herbert can’t get enough time to pass without time in the pocket. Herbert got pressured 27 times! The Chargers need to adjust their game plan; otherwise, they cannot be successful as a team. The best game plan would be to run the ball with Omarion Hampton. Against the giants, he had only 12 carries, but he went for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The worst nightmare for the Chargers would be if Hampton got hurt because they would have to use their 3rd and 4th string running backs, Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal.
Well, this did happen against the commanders in the 4th quarter. There is not much known about Hampton’s injury, but he did have a boot on his leg.
The Chargers are currently in disarray due to their numerous injuries. They won’t be like this forever, but for around the first half of the season, they won’t be able to have a successful offense, and then that means their defense is constantly out, so they get very tired and start slowing down. This especially showed in the game against the Washington Commanders. The Chargers’ defense let up 389 total yards in 8 drives, with 226 of those yards being passing yards.
The Chargers are in a dire position right now due to their numerous injuries. The best thing they can do is put the ball in Justin Herbert’s hands, and he will win them enough games to stay afloat until the injuries heal up, and then maybe they can have a successful season.
