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Well, that was stupid.
The Los Angeles Chargers, that have gone 10-27 in their last 37 games, were supposed to be better in 2017. Here are any number of reasons that people gave for that:
- Better coaching! Anthony Lynn was seen as an improvement over Mike McCoy, and Gus Bradley was thought to be an improvement over John Pagano.
- Better offensive line! Despite the fact that there was really only one (maybe) improvement year-over-year once Forrest Lamp went down with his injury, many thought Philip Rivers would be safer this season.
- Better luck! Surely, Keenan Allen and Jason Verrett wouldn’t go down with injuries again. Surely, balls bouncing off the fingertips of defensive backs would turn into interceptions, and fumble luck would bounce back in the direction of the Chargers.
- Better city! Seriously, people thought that without the burden of “San Diego” and its stadium issues hanging over the players/coaches and their families, they’d be freed up to play some dang football.
Whoops.
The team looked no better, no more prepared, no luckier or less burdened by stadium issues in San Diego. The team looked the same in 2017 as it looked in 2016 and 2015.
Maybe it’s going to take a while to turn around this ship.