{"id":52518,"date":"2018-11-01T15:06:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T19:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=52518"},"modified":"2018-11-01T15:06:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T19:06:33","slug":"los-angeles-chargers-secondary-needs-step-up-against-seattle-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/11\/01\/los-angeles-chargers-secondary-needs-step-up-against-seattle-seahawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Chargers Secondary Needs to Step Up Against Seattle Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> are 5-2 coming out of their bye week. Originally, we expected that Joey Bosa<\/a><\/strong> would be back by now. But it is sounding like he will still probably be out on Sunday with a bad foot. They\u2019ve generally been doing okay so far despite his absence, but without him, the pass defense will be on their own again and will\u00a0have to\u00a0make plays without much help from the pass-rushing. This weekend, they will be facing the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>; arguably their toughest opponent in over a month.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers Secondary Needs Big Day Against Seattle Seahawks<\/h1>\n

Inconsistency on the Pass Defense<\/h2>\n

As noted earlier, without Bosa on hand, the pass-rush has not been as deadly as normal<\/a> even with Melvin Ingram<\/strong><\/a> still out there. As such, opposing quarterbacks have had longer to throw, thus leaving it to the cornerbacks and safeties to make plays. And this hasn\u2019t been going quite as well as expected, considering they have Casey Hayward<\/a><\/strong> and Derwin James<\/a><\/strong> out there.<\/p>\n

After oddly struggling against C.J. Beathard<\/a><\/strong>, the secondary looked a lot better against Derek\u00a0Carr<\/strong>\u00a0and Baker Mayfield<\/strong><\/a>. But then they regressed again a little bit against Marcus Mariota<\/a><\/strong>, who\u2019s been having a pretty bad year. They\u2019ll have to do better against Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson<\/a><\/strong>, whose offense is probably the third best they\u2019ve faced all year besides that of Jared Goff<\/a><\/strong> and Patrick Mahomes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks Offense<\/h2>\n

I wasn\u2019t exactly expecting much out of the Seahawks this year, but the offense at least has been doing surprisingly well in the last few weeks, after another slow start.\u00a0There are\u00a0some new faces for Wilson this year, but he\u2019s still been finding them; whether it\u2019s veteran Doug Baldwin<\/a><\/strong> or newbie David Moore<\/a><\/strong>. He\u2019s had three touchdown passes each of the last three games. The defense can\u2019t allow Wilson to do whatever he wants, especially since they\u2019ll be playing *in* Seattle and the offense will have to deal with the crowd noise.<\/p>\n

Who Will Step Up?<\/h2>\n

Aside from maybe the rookie James, pretty much everyone\u2019s been quite inconsistent out there in the secondary. Trevor Williams<\/a><\/strong> has had some good plays, including a critical interception in the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> game, but he\u2019s also gotten burned by opposing receivers quite a bit. Same goes for\u00a0Jahleel\u00a0Addae<\/strong>; he\u2019s capable of some good hits, but he\u2019s also taken some terrible angles on tackling here and there. Even Hayward hasn\u2019t been quite as good this year, although he\u2019s still the most dependable cornerback on the team. Desmond King<\/strong><\/a> has been another rare bright spot, but for some reason, they\u2019re still only really letting him play nickel\/slot corner.<\/p>\n

Someone is going to have to step up out there. It\u2019s fair to assume that whomever Hayward guards (maybe Baldwin) will not get a lot of looks. It\u2019s everywhere else that\u2019s a concern, especially since Moore has been breaking out the last few weeks. Williams may need to have one of his better days. And at some\u00a0point\u00a0this season,\u00a0if he continues his inconsistency, the team should perhaps seriously consider putting King out there in his place instead. Regardless, Williams is probably the man who will need to do better on Sunday than he\u2019s been doing.<\/p>\n

Last Word<\/h2>\n

The Chargers defense is likely going to have coped without Bosa for at least another week. And while Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong> could probably bail his team out if he\u00a0has\u00a0to\u00a0(especially considering he may be having the best year of his life), that\u2019s not something you want to necessarily depend upon when you\u2019re playing in Seattle \u2013 one of the toughest places to play. You\u2019d rather have it to where the defense bails you out instead.<\/p>\n

This will probably be the toughest game the Chargers play in November. After that, they have the Oakland Raiders<\/a> again, Denver Broncos<\/a>, and the Arizona Cardinals<\/a>. If they get past this game, they can probably breathe easy for a while until December, when the schedule will really heat up. I don\u2019t know what the deal is with Bosa taking this long to recover, but they will\u00a0definitely want\u00a0him back by then at the very latest. Hopefully, the rest of the defense can hold on until then. In a reaction to an earlier game this season<\/a>, I referred to them as \u201cbending but not breaking.\u201d While obviously domination would be preferable, the other option would still be acceptable under the circumstances.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>