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Before the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers face off at Monday Night Football, Michael peterson of Bolts from the blue was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the Chargers.
1. Justin Herbert obviously had a pretty good season last year and is having a good start to the season, but is there a specific type of defense or cover that got him in trouble? And knowing Gus Bradley’s defense, do you think the game favors the Raiders or the Chargers?
Honestly, I don’t think I can name one specific defense or one that caused him problems. However, the one game I can remember where he struggled the most was against the Patriots last season when the team was destroyed inside SoFi Stadium. Behind a ghastly offensive line, New England sent wave after wave of pressure against that faltering front five and it worked perfectly. There was no semblance of an offense and that led to the only game last year in which the Chargers finished with zero points.
After years of watching Gus Bradley with the Chargers, I would say it’s not a good game. The “bend but don’t break” mindset with its pattern allows teams to methodically navigate the field at will while limiting big plays above. Unlike last year, the Chargers have performed very well in this area. They don’t throw the ball down onto the pitch as often as they did a year ago. If the pass rush doesn’t come, it can be a long day for Las Vegas.
2. Slowing down both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams seems like an almost impossible task for opposing defenses. Have you noticed if there is one look or type of blanket that is causing both of them problems or is it more of a chord type to choose from?
This is definitely a situation of your poison’s choice. Especially this season. In three weeks, at least one of the two has scored or traveled over 100 yards in every game so far. As it stands, the defense may need to figure out which one could hurt you the most, focus on that player, and hope the other is just having a bad game.
The thing about Bradley’s Cover 3 pattern is that it invites the opponent to throw. It’s not necessarily a good thing when the league tends to look to happy passing teams. If Bradley can scale back his plan to play some more Cover 2 on Monday night, I also think that would help in the long run.
3. The offensive line has been a problem for the Chargers for a few years now and they have made a lot of changes up front during the offseason. Tell me about rookie and first round pick Rashawn Slater, what has he been like so far this season? How do you think LA’s offensive line and the Las Vegas pass rush, which has been pretty good so far, stack up?
Slater has been phenomenal this season for a rookie tackle. He made his first big test against Chase Young and the Washington front in week one and has since been error-free except for a penalty against the Chiefs. He has not authorized any rampaging so far and only five presses in three weeks. Overall, the line is light years better than it was in 2020.
I think aside from Washington’s defensive line, it’s the biggest test of the young season for the offensive line. Maxx Crosby is playing out of his mind and will be a test for anyone tasked with blocking him. Ditto for Yannick Ngakoue. This may be the decisive game as far as the outcome of this game is concerned.
4. Across the trenches, can you give me a comparison between the Chargers ‘defensive line and the Raiders’ offensive line which you think will favor the Chargers and vice versa?
I think it will be a huge test for Alex Leatherwood, who will likely face Joey Bosa for most of Monday night. Kolton Miller should have a decent game against Uchenna Nwosu due to his elite length. Nwosu is the smallest for the guys on board and Miller just has to keep him out of his chest. I do like the inside of the Chargers line against the Raiders inside defenders, though. Corey Linsley and Matt Feiler are finding their rhythm and playing their best ball right now.
5 I’m a little curious how LA uses their linebackers. I’ve seen only three players in this position have taken snaps this year and Brandon Staley has used a similar strategy with the Rams, so aren’t linebackers just a big part of his defense? And are linebackers going to be tasked with covering a wide receiver like Kenyan Drake?
The Chargers are fortunate to have three very athletic linebackers. In this 3-4 front, the Chargers primarily use a Nickel defenseman as opposed to a third linebacker, so it’s really just two starting spots occupied by three starting caliber players. Defensive linemen are one-gappers. They’re supposed to be playing at the top of the pitch as they run into certain gaps which then need to be filled by the linebackers and the safeties behind them. And yes, Kenneth Murray, Kyzir White or Drue Tranquill will be responsible for covering the running backs out of the backfield.
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