Chargers kicker Michael Badgley has been ruled out for week 1

The Los Anglees Chargers will be without their excellent kicker today as they take on the Indianapolis Colts in their home opener. Michael “Money Badger” Badgley has been dealing with a groin injury and yesterday moved from questionable to doubtful, and this morning it was made official that he was now out.

The team will not be forced to make a roster move to account for this injury as their punter / kickoff specialist is also something of a placekicker himself. Ty Long will take over for Badgley and handle all kicking duties this afternoon. Now, Long is not the same quality of kicker as Badgley, so it will be interesting to see if the decreased confidence in their kicker’s ability changes how head coach Anthony Lynn makes 4th down decisions in what would otherwise have been long field goal range. Generally speaking, teams are better off going for it more often on 4th downs (from an expected points perspective), so potentially the Chargers’ worsened circumstances could force them into more optimal decisions. More likely is that they will just punt in situations they might have kicked, though.