Chargers remain positive despite tough loss to Ravens

The Chargers endured their toughest loss of the season against the Ravens on Sunday. What was supposed to be an entertaining matchup between two good teams turned into a 34-6 blowout.

As Los Angeles heads into the bye week, the overall attitude of head coach Brandon Staley’s squad is a positive one. Quarterback Justin Herbert spoke on what the upcoming week off will look like for the Bolts.

“I think it comes at a good time,” Herbert said. “Allows our guys up front to get their legs back and to have a week of rest and enough weeks to watch the film and get back over it. There’s a lot of good film…there’s a lot to learn from so it’s going to be a good teaching lesson for us.”

Instead of letting the blowout be a narrative for the remainder of the season, the Chargers are hoping to learn and grow from the loss. Safety Derwin James Jr. also shared his thoughts on the loss to Baltimore.

“Today let us know everything we need to work on,” James said. “Being 4-2, we’re not mad at the world, the world is not over, there’s a lot of football still left to be played. I feel like we learned a lot from this game and we’re going to be better for sure.”

Los Angeles’ two losses are against the Ravens and the Cowboys, two really good teams that will likely be in good playoff position. But be careful not to forget the four wins the Bolts have under their belt against the Chiefs, Washington, the Raiders, and the Browns.

The Bolts managed to beat an undefeated Las Vegas team at the time, as well as Cleveland, who made a playoff appearance last season. Furthermore, the Chargers earned a win against quarterback Patrick Mahomes and company in one of the most hostile environments, Arrowhead Stadium.

Staley echoed the positive attitude of his players heading into the bye week.

“I know that we’ve played six really good teams, we’re 4-2,” Staley said. “We’ve beat four really good teams; we’ve lost to two really good teams. That’s what I told the team, I think that’s where the truth is, and I think where we need to go is we need to learn from this game because there’s plenty in this game that we need to learn from. I think that the bye is coming at a good time for us. Get rested up and then come back and be ready to go against a really good New England team.”

As the Chargers enter the bye week, the run defense, special teams, and early-down play-calling should be atop of the coaches’ priority list when they reflect on what adjustments need to be made before entering the last half of the season.

Set to have one of the easiest schedules remaining, Los Angeles should be in great shape if they can make the proper adjustments, especially considering that they will get Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, Nasir Adderley, Justin Jones, and potentially Bryan Bulaga back.