By james art With the New Orleans Saints fielding an injured squad this Sunday, the Los Angeles Chargers should expect an easy week. However, after the loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Monday, nothing is certain.
The Saints are without center Eric McCoy (groin), offensive lineman Nick Saldivari (shoulder) and wide receiver Rashid Shahid (knee). Also, quarterback Derek Carr is questionable with an oblique injury.
With those injuries, the Chargers defense should have success, which they did in Monday’s loss to Arizona. The question remains, however, what will the Chargers offense look like?
The Saints rank 28th in passing defense, 29th in punting defense and 26th in scoring defense. If the Chargers offense looks bad on Sunday, there may be zero hope for the rest of the season.
If the Chargers want to find any rhythm on offense, they need to build confidence. The best way to accomplish that against New Orleans is for the defense to take advantage of Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler and give their offense a good starting position all afternoon.
New Orleans scored just 10 points against the Denver Broncos and lost the possession battle by more than eight minutes. As a run-heavy team like Denver, the Chargers need to accomplish the same.
Dominate the possession battle, get after the quarterback — Denver sacked Rattler six times and held him to 172 passing yards — and run the football effectively.
If the Broncos, who can’t seem to find a running back they trust, can rush for 225 yards, JK Dobbins and the Chargers should be able to find success on the ground.
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