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Los Angeles Chargers: Making The Postseason Shouldn’t Equal Continuity

By Jacob Schyvinck

Jun 1, 2022; Costa Mesa, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi during organized team activities at Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2022; Costa Mesa, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi during organized team activities at Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Los Angeles Chargers will be back in the postseason in the 2022-23 season. That doesn’t mean they should stick to that status quo in 2023.

It’s back to the postseason for the Los Angeles Chargers, their first trip since the 2018-19 season. It will also be the first time we get to see Brandon Staley (as a head coach) and Justin Herbert in the playoffs. The excitement is palpable, and the hope is that it becomes a yearly tradition for them.

They won’t have an easy road to Arizona. The three titans of the AFC (Kansas City, Buffalo, and Cincinnati) await them. Even if they go to the AFC South champ in the first round, they’ll likely have to go through two of the three to reach the Super Bowl. The odds don’t look good. Still, it’s a successful season given the injuries that ravaged the team and their ability to finish, something that couldn’t be said in 2021.

This offseason, no matter the postseason success, the Los Angeles Chargers have to look in the mirror, and evaluate where they are at. The defense needs better personnel at every level, and they have to stop putting everything on Justin Herbert in the offense. The overwhelming expectations didn’t meet in-season success.

Part of that means that Joe Lombardi should be looking for a new job in 2023.

Granted, the offensive personnel needs fine tuning, but the Chargers offense lacks serious creativity. Lombardi was hired in Los Angeles after his tenure as an offensive coordinator in New Orleans, having known Staley from back at Mercyhurst College. The offense is stagnant and won’t change, and part of that is because of what was successful in New Orleans with Drew Brees, whose arm strength was declining in the late 2010s. The low-aDOT offense, predicated on the quick game and making sound, rapid reads, is what’s holding the offense back, even with a superhuman at quarterback.

The offense itself puts a ton of its eggs in the basket of curl-flat, stick, and a focus on quick routes that stretch defenders horizontally. It’s fine when you have someone like Herbert, who processes at such a high level. But, defenses eventually key in on what’s going on, and they have the defense to handle it. What that does is force Herbert into the second part of the play, which is scrambling, buying time, etc. looking for someone with a sliver of separation to make an otherworldly throw (or of course, a Mike Williams win at the catch point).

To reach the ceiling with a quarterback of Herbert’s caliber, the Chargers need to hit the reset button on offense and get more creative. That starts with a new, innovative offense coordinator who can put more strain on defenses and keep them guessing. Of course, speed or explosive twitch at receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft will help too.

Don’t look at the success of the season as an overall negative. It’s great the Los Angeles Chargers delivered on postseason expectations this season. But, complacency absolutely cannot set in after this season. Push the chips in where you need to in order to deliver a championship, and that unfortunately starts with giving Lombardi the axe.

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