The Los Angeles Chargers' defense under Brandon Staley has shown it can shut down mediocre offenses.
When it comes to the NFL's top units, that's another matter.
The Chargers on Sunday became only the second team since 1991 to lose despite the offense scoring a touchdown on its final five drives. LA tied the game four times but never led, and Riley Patterson's 41-yard field goal as time expired gave the Detroit Lions a 41-38 victory.
The defense didn't force a three-and-out, had no sacks and allowed a 300-yard passer (Jared Goff), 100-yard rusher (David Montgomery) and 100-yard receiver (Amon-Ra St. Brown) in a game for the second straight season.
Staley, hired after he coordinated the Rams' Super Bowl-winning defense in the 2020 season, was on the defensive Monday when asked what makes him believe the Chargers have the capacity to contain the league's top offenses.
“I know the group that I’ve been coaching for nine games, and it is good enough to beat anybody we play. We’ve played the very best teams in the NFL and we’ve been in every single football game,” he said. "We’re 4-5. We’re still a work in progress. We’re good enough on offense, defense and special teams to beat anybody we play.
"We have our season in front of us. We have to get on to Green Bay.”
Staley boasted last week that he felt his team had turned the corner and had played more consistently. That's easy to do against Tyson Bagent and Zach Wilson, but the Chargers haven't met that standard against Tua Tagovailoa, Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes and Goff.
The run defense, which had been solid this season, allowed a season-high 200 yards and 6.5 yards per carry. Montgomery's 75-yard touchdown was the ninth play and sixth TD of at least 40 rushing yards LA has allowed since Staley took over in 2021.
The pass rush, which had eight sacks against the Jets, hardly pressured Goff and registered only two QB hits. St. Brown was the fifth receiver to have a 100-yard game against the Chargers.
Staley pointed to giving up explosive plays as one of the culprits this season. However, the Chargers have allowed a league-high 41 plays of 40 yards or more since 2021.
“There’s been a couple plays that can really hijack your game and they can’t happen, whether it’s communication or a technique being played. We need to do a better job of executing our assignment in our technique. If it was a scheme-related area, you would see us make adjustments that way,” he said.
WHAT’S WORKING
Receiving depth. Quentin Johnston and Jalen Guyton had big catches after Keenan Allen was sidelined for part of the second half with a shoulder injury. Johnston caught his first NFL touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the Detroit 1 in the fourth quarter and finished with four receptions for 34 yards. Guyton had four catches for 41 yards, including an 18-yard TD in the third quarter that was his first score since Week 15 in 2021 against Kansas City. Guyton suffered a knee injury in Week 3 last season and also missed the first seven games this year.
Allen, despite spending that stretch on the sideline, had a huge game with 11 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
The running game. Austin Ekeler had 67 yards on 19 carries, including four attempts that were stopped for no gain or negative yards. Since rushing for a league-high 230 yards in Week 1, the Chargers are averaging 84.3 yards per game on the ground, fourth-lowest in the league. Their 3.44 yards per carry the last eight games is the league's second-worst average in that stretch.
STOCK UP
Herbert bounced back from a career-low 136 passing yards against the Jets with the 25th 300-yard game of his career. He also bested Peyton Manning for the most passing yards through the first four seasons of a career in NFL history. Herbert has 16,438 yards; Manning had 16,418 from 1998-2001 with the Indianapolis Colts.
STOCK DOWN
Safety Alohi Gilman allowed four receptions for 110 yards. Gilman also missed when he tried to make a diving tackle and took cornerback Deane Leonard out of the play as Montgomery went 75 yards for a touchdown.
INJURIES
Linebacker Chris Rumpf II will have surgery and be placed on injured reserve after he broke his foot during pregame warmups. Allen returned during the fourth quarter and caught a 38-yard touchdown that tied the game at 38-all. TE Gerald Everett (back) did not play in the second half.
KEY NUMBER
2-6 — The Chargers' record under Staley when the game has been decided on the last play. The Detroit game was their second this season in which they've lost on a walk-off field goal. The other was in overtime in Week 2 at Tennessee.
NEXT STEPS
The Chargers will try to get back to .500 when they travel to Green Bay. The Bolts have dropped seven of their last eight against the Packers and have only one win in five trips to Lambeau Field.
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