Chargers-Saints Game Preview: Bolts must improve tackling vs. Alvin Kamara - Bolts From The Blue

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D.J. Chark is set to make his season debut as the Chargers are looking thin at wide receiver.

After two games on the road following their bye week, the Chargers have finally been able to return home and prepare for a much-needed matchup inside SoFi Stadium. This week, they’re hosting the Saints (2-5) who are coming off a 33-15 loss former head coach Sean Payton and the Broncos.

After a disappointing loss to the Cardinals this past Monday, the Chargers need a win this week to keep their playoff hopes in a realistic place. With New Orleans starting a rookie backup quarterback, things should be on the easier side. But after Monday night, the things that tell me it should go smoothly just aren’t doing it for me anymore.

So, entering this week’s game, these are the three biggest storylines that I’ll be following when these two teams kickoff on Sunday.

Prior to the Chargers facing the Cardinals this past Monday, Arizona ranked 30th in run defense. It seemed like a cupcake game where the Bolts would be able to play the exact type of football they want to each week.

But that simply wasn’t the case.

By the end of the day, the run game totaled 59 yards on 22 carries. It was shutdown so thoroughly that Justin Herbert finally got the chance to sling it around the yard to the tune of 349 yards through the air. But even after that display, not a single touchdown was scored. Over 400 yards of offense and not a single trip to the end zone. If any of the Chargers’ five drives that ended in a field goal would have found the end zone, they probably walk away victorious from Monday night.

So coming back around to the point of this one, the Saints enter Sunday as the league’s worst unit in total defense. They allow an average of 394.9 yards per game. About 250 through the air and 150 on the ground if you split it up. This sounds pretty good for the Chargers, right?

Yes. It should. But what Monday showed us is that the Chargers may not have the necessary talent around Herbert to take full advantage. Several receivers are hurt and the interior of the offensive line is getting whipped more often than they’re doing the whipping.

If there was ever a game where they need to prove they can take care of business when the time calls for it, it’s this one.

2.) Will the lack of rest compared to the Saints show up in their performance?

The unfortunate part of this week is that the Chargers just played on Monday Night Football while the Saints are coming off a mini bye week by playing on Thursday Night Football the prior week. That means it’ll be 10 days for them since their last game. The Chargers will have just six.

Following Monday night’s loss, the Bolts opened the week with a fairly large injury report. What made it worse is the fact that both the team’s top-producing wideouts in Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey were included. As of Friday evening, we already know that both Johnston and Derius Davis are doubtful to play with McConkey questionable. An extra day to rehab may have been the difference for either QJ or Davis to return, but reality is what it is.

D.J. Chark’s return will help mitigate the loss of the former TCU teammates, but the veteran is still somewhat hobbled himself by the groin injury that got him placed on injured reserve to begin the season. Expect Jalen Reagor and Simi Fehoko to still see their fair share of snaps on Sunday.

The Chargers missed 16 tackles in their game against the Cardinals. Yes, that’s a lot of misses. Two players had four apiece while another had three misses. It was arguably the worst-tackling game in recent memory for the Chargers and that’s saying something when you sift through the last few years of defensive woes.

This week, the Chargers are once again facing a talented back in Alvin Kamara, who just earned himself a new two-year extension by the Saints. This year through seven games, Kamara has 438 rushing yards and six touchdowns. As a receiver, he also has 34 receptions for 252 yards and another score. He’s been very productive this season and one of Kamara’s calling cards has always been his elite contact balance. He’s a pain to bring down and it’s nearly impossible to do it without properly wrapping him up. Shoulder bashes aren’t going to do it.

The Chargers understandably emphasized tackling this week in practice.

“A lot of them (missed tackles) to me were, we talk about it all the time, the angles to the ball and the approach,” defensive coordinator JesseMinter said to the media on Thursday. “When you play a really good back like Conner and his size, his ability to stiff arm, you can’t leave your feet, you can’t a yard away from him and try to dive, he knocks that down. You got to take the extra steps. We had multiple instances of that.”

“It’s always a huge emphasis but particularly when you have a game like that, it becomes even more of an emphasis,” Minter added. “I’m looking forward to our guys chasing the detail and tackling better this game.”

Kamara is not as big as Connor, but I’d argue the former has been better at keeping his feet than the latter over the course of their careers. If the Chargers truly attacked their tackling fundamentals this week, we should be able to see it in this week’s performance.