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Well, there isn’t much to say about last week’s loss to the Browns. The Chargers hit an all time low this season and have committed to the tank, but I’m not even sure if they’re doing it on purpose. This Chargers team has seen countless injuries throughout the season so there have been plenty of new faces on the field each week. I could go on and on about who has been sidelined and who has replaced them. Recently, Melvin Gordon went out with an injury, so Kenneth Farrow, along with Ronnie Hillman, replaced MGIII. No surprise that Kenneth Farrow is now on IR.
Chargers Offense:
| Pos. | Name | W15 Snaps | % of Total W15 Snaps | W16 Snaps | % of Total W16 Snaps | WoW % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Philip Rivers | 55 | 100% | 68 | 100% | 0% |
| T | Joe Barksdale | 55 | 100% | 68 | 100% | 0% |
| T | Chris Hairston | 12 | 22% | 68 | 100% | 5% |
| G | D.J. Fluker | 48 | 87% | 61 | 90% | 3% |
| TE | Antonio Gates | 35 | 64% | 57 | 84% | 20% |
| WR | Tyrell Wiliams | 52 | 95% | 56 | 82% | -13% |
| WR | Dontrelle Inman | 48 | 87% | 56 | 82% | -5% |
| C | Spencer Pulley | 7 | 13% | 55 | 81% | 68% |
| WR | Travis Benjamin | 29 | 53% | 50 | 74% | 21% |
| G | Orlando Franklin | 55 | 100% | 37 | 54% | -46% |
| RB | Kenneth Farrow | 41 | 75% | 37 | 54% | -21% |
| G | Kenny Wiggins | 0 | 0% | 36 | 53% | 53% |
| RB | Ronnie Hillman | 13 | 24% | 26 | 38% | 14% |
| C | Matt Slauson | 55 | 100% | 21 | 31% | -69% |
| TE | Hunter Henry | 29 | 53% | 19 | 28% | -25% |
| TE | Sean McGrath | 19 | 35% | 13 | 19% | -16% |
| FB | Derek Watt | 6 | 11% | 13 | 19% | 8% |
| WR | Geremy Davis | 3 | 5% | 7 | 10% | 5% |
| T | King Dunlap | 43 | 78% | 0 | 0% | -78% |
The Chargers offense existed for the first quarter and didn’t contribute much else after that. The Chargers offense had 68 snaps to get something done but was unable to come up with points against a defense that normally gets torched. The usual bunch was at the top of the snap count list; however, Orlando Franklin and Matt Slauson saw limited snaps this game due to injuries. The injury to Slauson was definitely noticeable when the offensive line failed to communicate, or make adjustments, which would lead to Rivers being pressured.
Tyrell Williams and Dontrelle Inman are still seeing a healthy amount of snaps, but the surprising boost in snaps this week came from Antonio Gates. Now that the Chargers are in tank mode, maybe they just want the silver lining of having Gates break Tony Gonzalez’s record. Hunter Henry basically lived in Gates’ shadow this week with a -25% drop in playing time percentage, which comes out to only 19/68 snaps this game.
Coming into this game, we needed to keep an eye on the running back group (of two, or three if you count Derek Watt) to see how the snap splits would pan out. This week, Kenneth Farrow edged out Ronnie Hillman in snaps played; however, Farrow saw -21% fewer snaps this week compared to last week. It’s safe to say he won’t be on the snap count list anytime soon.
Chargers Defense:
| Pos. | Name | W15 Snaps | % of Total W15 Snaps | W16 Snaps | % of Total W16 Snaps | WoW % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Trevor Williams | 58 | 94% | 71 | 100% | 6% |
| LB | Jatavis Brown | 48 | 77% | 71 | 100% | 23% |
| SS | Jahleel Addae | 62 | 100% | 70 | 99% | -1% |
| FS | Dwight Lowery | 61 | 98% | 70 | 99% | 1% |
| CB | Casey Hayward | 58 | 94% | 69 | 97% | 3% |
| LB | Melvin Ingram | 62 | 100% | 67 | 94% | -6% |
| DT | Corey Liuget | 56 | 90% | 61 | 86% | -4% |
| DE | Joey Bosa | 51 | 82% | 57 | 80% | -2% |
| NT | Damion Square | 46 | 74% | 50 | 70% | -4% |
| LB | Denzel Perryman | 49 | 79% | 47 | 66% | -13% |
| CB | Trovon Reed | 33 | 53% | 47 | 66% | 13% |
| LB | Kyle Emanuel | 30 | 48% | 29 | 41% | -7% |
| SS | Adrian Phillips | 18 | 29% | 25 | 35% | 6% |
| LB | Chris Landrum | 11 | 18% | 15 | 21% | 3% |
| NT | Ryan Carrethers | 18 | 29% | 10 | 14% | -15% |
| DE | Darius Philon | 10 | 16% | 10 | 14% | -2% |
| LB | Korey Toomer | 11 | 18% | 5 | 7% | -11% |
| LB | Joshua Perry | 0 | 0% | 5 | 7% | 7% |
| FS | Darrell Stuckey | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | 1% |
| CB | Robert McClain | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | 1% |
The Chargers front seven was getting after Robert Griffin III and Cody Kessler. The defense came up with nine sacks this game and the Chargers still lost. While they were getting after RGIII, they could not contain him all the way up to when he got hurt. RGIII runs and the referees were the biggest contributors to the Browns offense. The big plays allowed Isaiah Crowell to punch in two touchdowns, one of them basically untouched.
This week we saw more Jatavis Brown and less Denzel Perryman and Korey Toomer. Perryman got shook up during the game and Toomer is almost nonexistent on the field. While RGIII and Kessler did get sacked all game, they were still able to limit the turnovers and manage the game. Neither QB turned the ball over, allowing the Browns to grind out some drive (with the assistance of the refs) and create some points against the Chargers defense.
There’s not much else to say about this game other than the tank is in full force and there is no slowing down! The last stop of the tank journey is back in San Diego when the Chargers face the Kansas City Chiefs in their last game of the regular season (and total season, cause no playoffs... again.). Chargers face the Chiefs at the Q at 1:25 pm, should be another loss unless the Chargers really pursue the “New Year, New Me” mentality.