Chargers’ offensive coordinator Greg Roman told a story the other day about a game plan gone awry. He didn’t name the date, the year or the team that employed him at the time, but it was clear he didn’t want a repeat when the Chargers host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
“I made the mistake one year of going into a game and I put all of my eggs in this one basket with an extra ‘O-lineman’ and then two key guys got hurt on the same play and they’re out and I’m looking at my call sheet and the plays are falling off in front of my eyes,” Roman recalled.
It was one way to explain why the Chargers have been so reliant on their passing game during victories over the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders to begin the season, after they spoke so often during the offseason and training camp about establishing a stronger and more reliable running game.
Granted, the Chargers’ play differential between the pass and the run hasn’t been all that wide. Quarterback Justin Herbert has attempted 61 passes and completed 44 through two games and the Chargers have rushed 51 times, led by running back Omarion Hampton’s 23 carries.
The plain fact is the Chargers have exploited Herbert’s ability to find open wide receivers, tight ends and running backs and the opposition’s inability to find a way to contain them. Herbert has completed 72.1% of his passes for 560 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions.
So, why not keep throwing and save the running for another day?
For starters, it’s important to be flexible, as Roman leaned in that long ago game.
After all, standout defensive back Pat Surtain II and the Broncos might be far more effective in their coverage of the Chargers’ receivers, tight ends and running backs than either the Chiefs or Raiders and it could force Roman to call more running plays in Week 3 than either Week 1 or 2.
“You have to have a multitude of options going into a game because you never know how that’s going to go and who’s going to be available,” Roman said. “So, anyway, we go into a game with multiple options. Once the game gets going, it can flow one way or another. That’s how it is.”
Roman used the word “spotty” to describe the ground game through the first two games. Hampton has rushed for a team-leading 72 yards, averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Herbert is next with 63 yards, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. Najee Harris is next with 33 yards, averaging 3.7 yards.
Harris sat out all of training camp because of an eye injury sustained during a fireworks accident July 4, and the Chargers have brought him along slowly.
The Chargers haven’t scored a rushing touchdown this season. Herbert’s game-clinching 19-yard scramble on a play that was designed to be a pass just before the two-minute warning in a 27-21 victory over the Chiefs was by far the most memorable of all of their rushing plays to date.
In fact, a sizable chunk of Herbert’s 16 rushing attempts have been kneel-downs to kill the final seconds of a game. He has been a willing runner at times, never more so than when he sprinted around hard-charging Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones late in the Sept. 5 game in Brazil.
Herbert might be wise to improve his end-of-run slides, though. His late slide to cap one scramble against the Raiders resulted in an awkward collision with a couple of Las Vegas players and a nasty abrasion on his shin. Another slide resulted in an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Raiders.
Bottom line: An effective ground game is essential to establishing a solid passing game, keeping the opposition guessing. If the Chargers can’t run effectively and there’s no threat there, then opposing defenses can focus on blitzing Herbert and tightening their coverage of his receivers.
Herbert has been especially effective in play-action pass situations, freezing opposing defensive lines with a fake handoff before dropping to pass. Straight drop-backs play after play after play are predictable, and the last thing Roman and Herbert want to be is predictable.
“Understanding that the run game is going to open up those (passing) plays for us and as long as we’re running the ball well and the offensive line giving me enough time, I think that’s when we’re at our best,” Herbert said of thwarting defenses with a balanced offensive attack.
CHARGERS (2-0) vs. BRONCOS (1-1)
When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: CBS (Ch. 2); 640 AM/94.3 FM (Spanish)