Chargers Firing on All Cylinders at Perfect Time Despite Injury Issues

At no point Sunday did it look like the New York Jets had a chance to beat the San Diego Chargers. The final score was 31-0, and the Chargers nearly tripled the Jets' offensive output. San Diego’s offense and defense dominated all afternoon to move to 4-1 and cement the team’s status as a legitimate contender in the AFC.

The Chargers are firing on all cylinders despite numerous injury issues as they enter an important part of their schedule. But now is not the time for the Chargers to buy their own hype and let off the gas, because things aren't going to get any easier.

If the Chargers want to reach their ultimate goal, they’ll need to stay focused in the coming weeks. They are playing great, but three of the next four games before the bye week are against division opponents and only one is a home game.

On the road this season, the Chargers are 1-1 and averaging just 19.5 points per game compared to 3-0 at home, where they are averaging 31.3 points per game. Last season, the Chargers' three worst offensive performances came on the road, but the defense routinely let them down. The defense is considerably better, and both sides of the ball have been equally impressive this season, but the Chargers will have to avoid a letdown as they travel to hostile environments.

The Chargers played their next five opponents last season, went 4-3 against them and needed overtime in Week 17 to beat most of the Kansas City Chiefs’ backups. The Chargers' average point margin against their next five opponents last season was 0.6 points, whereas it was 4.8 points in their other nine games. Big wins like Sunday are going to be a lot harder to come by going forward.

Including next week’s game against the Oakland Raiders on the road—where they lost last season— the Chargers will have played a month of games against clearly inferior teams. Hammering the Jets at home is how a good team is supposed to win, and doing it without several key pieces was an encouraging sign for head coach Mike McCoy’s team.

The Chargers beat the Jets the way good teams win games—on third down, in the red zone and with explosive plays—on both offense and defense. It will be hard to replicate that rare sextuple, but it’s what every team strives to do every week.

On third down, the Chargers were 12-of-18 and allowed the Jets to convert just one of 12. The Chargers were actually 12-of-14 on third downs after they took a 28-0 lead in the third quarter, but they understandably got conservative thereafter.  

Splits	Offense	Defense
Points	31	0
Net Yards	439	151
3rd Down	12/18	1/12
Red Zone	4/5	0/1
Explosive Plays	5+	0

In the red zone, the Chargers scored four out of five times and didn’t allow a score on the Jets’ only opportunity. The longest play by the Jets was just 13 yards, whereas the Chargers had plays of 52, 50, 49, 32, 28 and more.

It’ll be even harder to replicate that kind of success against better teams and division opponents on the road—especially if the Chargers can’t get healthy. McCoy isn’t going to make any excuses about it, but it’s clear the injuries are mounting.

“It’s part of the game,” McCoy said after the game about the injuries via Faris Tanyos of ABC News 10 in San Diego. “We’ve got to put 11 guys on the field somehow, and we’re going to do it.”

The Chargers may put 11 players on the field, but their star players can only cover for so many warts. On Sunday, they were already without numerous starters. Things only got worse during the game. 

Quarterback Philip Rivers was already down to his third-string center and running back, and both were lost to injury against the Jets. Center Doug Legursky was on crutches after the game, according to Marty Caswell of the Mighty 1090 in San Diego. The team announced that running back Donald Brown suffered a concussion, which are always tricky.

Per Caswell, right tackle D.J. Fluker was also on crutches after suffering an ankle injury. The team also announced that wide receiver Malcom Floyd exited with a calf injury, and special teams ace Darrell Stuckey left with a quad injury.

It’s possible that some of the injuries were precautionary in a blowout win, but the Chargers could hardly afford any more injuries. Starting cornerback Shareece Wright and inside linebacker Manti Te’o missed the contest, as did center Rich Ohrnberger, who became the starter when Nick Hardwick went on injured reserve.

Position	On Injured Reserve	On Injury Report, Played	Out Sunday	Injured Sunday	Next Man Up
Running back	Danny Woodhead	-	Ryan Mathews	Donald Brown (Concussion)	Branden Oliver
Center	Nick Hardwick	-	Rich Ohrnberger	Doug Legursky (Leg)	Chris Watt
Linebacker	Melvin Ingram (Designated for Return)	Dwight Freeney (Questionable)	Reggie Walker Jerry Attaochu Manti Te'o	-	Andrew Gachkar, etc
Defensive End	-	Corey Liuget (Questionable)	-	-	-
Cornerback	-	-	Shareece Wright	-	Richard Marshall/Steve Williams (Jason Verrett moved into starting role)
Right Tackle	-	-	-	D.J. Fluker (Ankle)	Willie Smith
Others	-	-	-	WR Malcom Floyd (Calf) S Darrell Stuckey (Quad)	-

Running back Ryan Mathews is still likely a few weeks away from a return, and the Chargers need him after they placed Danny Woodhead on injured reserve. That’s even truer now that there is some unknown surrounding Brown’s concussion and his effectiveness.

Running back Branden Oliver sparked the Chargers Sunday with 182 yards and two touchdowns on 23 touches against a normally stingy New York defense, but things can change in a tight contest on the road once opponents have a chance to study the film. If the Chargers believed Oliver could do what he did Sunday every week, he'd likely have been starting over all of the other running backs on the roster. 

Maybe the Chargers found a diamond in the rough, but he needs to replicate his performance to prove it. He's going to need help, but the Chargers could be down to just five healthy offensive linemen, including fourth-string center Chris Watt and backup right tackle Willie Smith.

The injuries could keep the Chargers from getting complacent, but one has to wonder if there is a breaking point at which opponents will be able to exploit the backups. Winning on the road against opponents that know your strengths and weaknesses is also a lot different from beating up on the Jaguars and Jets at home.

The focus for now has to be week-to-week, and overlooking the Oakland Raiders wouldn’t be wise. They're coming off of a bye week, so they've had two weeks to prepare and may have a little extra fire considering they replaced head coach Dennis Allen with offensive line coach Tony Sparano.

The Chargers have so far done a masterful job dealing with injuries and still winning games they should by large margins, but the room for error is shrinking as the injuries mount. It's easy to get high after such a big win, but the Chargers need to guard against letdowns in the coming weeks; their season may depend on it.