The Los Angeles Chargers suffered an embarrassing defeat during Super Wild Card Weekend to the Jacksonville Jaguars. After taking a 27-0 lead to start the game, they were outscored 31-3 the rest of the way end lose in spectacular fashion.
After such a defeat, something needs to change. The first dominos to fall are offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and quarterbacks coach Shane Day as both have been fired by the Chargers.
This is an offense that, despite some top-tier talent, has underwhelmed for a while. Burgeoning star Justin Herbert has had the most productive start to an NFL career for a quarterback yet the Chargers have struggled to find consistent success. Some people will question why Day lost his job given Herbert’s prolific production, but he did see his production slip across the board in Year 3 under his watch.
This season, injuries Keenan Allen and Mike Williams set the offense back, but Herbert still found a way to produce. Allen and Williams were on the field together for only 23 percent of snaps this season. Joshua Palmer, Gerald Everett, DeAndre Carter and Austin Ekeler all stepped up but it wasn’t enough to save Lombardi or Day’s job.
A sore spot for the Chargers in recent seasons has been the inability to get the run game going. Ekeler is a premier pass catcher, but Los Angeles didn’t even bother trying to establish the run at points during the season. They ranked 30th in rushing this season and 21st last season with Lombardi as offensive coordinator.
Los Angeles struggled to maintain their success on offense throughout the game, which falls on Lombardi and Day in some regards as well. The Chargers were outscored by 48 points in the second half of games this season, which was the seventh-worst mark in the NFL.
Lombardi and Day were original hires by head coach Brandon Staley when he took over in 2021. He is lucky that he wasn’t the one fired this week as playing regulars in a Week 18 matchup against the Denver Broncos, which resulted in Williams getting hurt again, was a fireable offense. Overseeing a 27-0 collapse would also be enough for a franchise to move on, especially with an established person such as Sean Payton being available.
