The Los Angeles Chargers kicked off the season with a high-scoring shootout against the Miami Dolphins \u2013 and came out on the losing side by a score of 36-34. There was a lot to like on the offensive side of the ball, but the play of the defense was downright bad \u2013 to a level that is concerning in a number of aspects. It\u2019s not like the Dolphins don\u2019t have a strong offense, but if the Chargers defense continues to play this way, the team will be in trouble.<\/p>\n
The Chargers secondary was absolutely ripped to shreds. Tua Tagovailoa went 28-of-45 for 466 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Tyreek Hill was the main beneficiary, bringing in 11 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns. The run defense fared better, allowing only 70 yards and 3.5 yards per carry, but it still added up to over 500 yards of offense. The result is quite likely the worst defensive performance of the Brandon Staley era.<\/p>\n
It cannot be simply said that they were outmatched either. The last time these two teams met in Week 14 of 2022, they held the Dolphins to only 17 points and 219 yards. And that was with multiple Chargers defensive starters injured, and it wasn\u2019t like Tagovailoa was injured at the time either. They shut down the Dolphins, and Staley called one of the better defensive games of his career. So what went so different this time?<\/p>\n
The main issue was how lost certain members of the secondary looked \u2013 most notably J.C. Jackson, who repeatedly got burned to the point where he got benched \u2013 again<\/a>. (He did make one interception in the red zone, but that was one of the only good plays by anyone in the secondary.)<\/p>\n While plenty can be said about Jackson and his poor play, it didn\u2019t help matters that Tyreek Hill was the one who kept burning him \u2013 and the Chargers never gave him or anyone else much help. Leaving Hill in single coverage without any help even from the safeties is usually going to backfire \u2013 and teams should know better by now. And despite the fact that they were getting burned early and often, hardly any adjustments were ever made, aside from benching Jackson<\/a>. It didn\u2019t help enough \u2013 in part because they seemingly never adjusted scheme-wise.<\/p>\n SHEESH \ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8\ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8\ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8@tua<\/a> x @cheetah<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/W4GEvmZ8tJ<\/a><\/p>\n — Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n