Opponents have figured out how to stop Justin Herbert’s Chargers offense

Lost in the 40-17 shellacking at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the fact opponents seem to have figured out the Los Angeles Chargers offense.

There’s a reason a Hall of Fame quarterback had some harsh words for offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

One doesn’t need advanced metrics to figure that out, either—but they sure don’t hurt. According to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, Tampa Bay blitzed Justin Herbert on a stunning 63.9 percent of his dropbacks, good for the second-highest mark of his career.

No wonder, either. The Chargers can’t drum up a good running game with poor play from the interior offensive line. Without a threat of that, combined with consistent deep route patterns, defenses have figured out they can hit home often.

Tack on, too, the fact that Herbert continues to battle through lower-body injuries. Plus, rookie Ladd McConkey is the only player who has been able to reliably beat man coverage.

The Chargers will need a quick, sudden evolution of the weekly gameplan to counteract this, especially with Herbert already nursing injuries and his mobility limited. But Roman and the coaches don’t have a lot of time to install new wrinkles, not with the Denver Broncos visiting on Thursday night.

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