Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers have worked all season to get to this point. They’re back in the playoffs once again with Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh leading the way. But can they find a way to finally get past the first round?
Surrounding circumstances tell us it’s going to be a tall task, but those same circumstances seemingly should have sank this season in LA, but it did not. Herbert and the Harbaugh effect have kept this team afloat through some massive hits and obstacles over the past 18 weeks and it truly makes you believe they could have at least one more gutsy victory up their sleeve.
It’s time to leave it all out on the field one more time.
Here are the three things I’ll be watching for when these teams take the field on Sunday.
This season has been incredibly unfair to Justin Herbert.
He’s put his body and health on the line each and every week and he’s been rewarded with being the quarterback that’s had to play behind the most unique offensive line combinations in the NFL this year. The Bolts have had 32 different groups, two more than the Browns in second place. Yet somehow, they’re still in the postseason with 11 wins.
The Patriots were deemed an ideal matchup — if there is one — in the wild card round due to their lack of an elite pass rush. They have no defenders with double-digit sacks and are tied for the seventh-least sacks by a team during the regular season with 35.
If there is any way this Chargers team is going to find a way past the wild card round for the first time in Justin Herbert’s career, it’s going to be with a herculean effort by the front five to keep Herbert on his feet and give him ample time to make plays against the league’s ninth-ranked pass defense.
And when I say this, I mean not an effort where he’s sacked zero times, but even somewhere around around 2-3 would be seen as a vast improvement compared to recent weeks. If any of these guys want to be with the Chargers next year and avoid the inevitable revamping of the offensive line room, they’ll need to leave it all out on the field.
The Chargers rookie back was a non-participant in practice this week for the team’s first two sessions. Then, on Friday, he was given a questionable tag for Sunday night after participating in a limited fashion to end the week.
Failing to log a full practice the week before the team’s first playoff game is not a great sign, but knowing this coaching staff it could have been out of an abundance of caution or to squeeze as much rehabilitation time into the week.
Hampton told reporters...
