Chargers News: Lions Recycled Painful Playoff Play To Set Tone Vs LA

Your Los Angeles Chargers were victims of another heartbreaking loss—their fifth one of the season, which happens to be their fifth loss of the season. The offense played up to par, which they usually do, but the defense, oh, the defense.

The Chargers defense allowed 533 total yards, 200 on the ground, while forcing zero turnovers and could not stop the Lions from scoring outside of one drive in the second half.

It was an offensive clash, while the defenses stood back and just watched, particularly the LA defense. It was disappointing again, but it didn't just happen simultaneously. Well, it did, but it didn't. It all started at the end of the first quarter; the Lions ran a play very similar to the one the Jacksonville Jaguars ran to convert on the 4th and one toward the end of the 2022 Wild Card game that ultimately led them to the win.

If you watched the game and it looked similar, that's because it was the exact same play. Chargers star safety Derwin James didn't hesitate to point out the similarities.

"We got that play to end the game in Jacksonville,” James said in the locker room after Sunday’s loss. “It was that same play, and they hit us on it.”

(Per Daniel Popper of The Athletic)

I won't take you down memory lane, Charger fans, but here are the slight differences in the play.

Johnson iterated on the concept. He replaced one tight end edge blocker with a pulling guard. He added Gibbs as a decoy. It was a run to the left instead of the right. But he also kept many of same blocks — the receiver on the safety, the backfield tight end on the edge rusher. And Johnson was attacking the same player in the Chargers’ run fit: Samuel.

(Per Daniel Popper of The Athletic)

Although the play happened at the end of the first quarter, you could see it was a microcosm of the Chargers. No matter how many times it appears they've changed, it is the same old stuff, just a different day.

The head coach was supposed to be a defensive-minded one, yet LA is among the worst defenses in the league. It should be criminal considering the personnel that side of the ball possesses, yet here we are. Why should we have expected anything different when the concept remained the same heading into this new year?

This is why experts and pundits don't view the Chargers on the same level as the other AFC powerhouses like the Chiefs, Bills, or Bengals. LA cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. There are still plenty of games ahead of the Bolts, but the clock is ticking, and we'll see if they can flip a magic switch and turn the season around.

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