https://www.ocregister.com/2022/12/31/chargers-face-challenges-as-regular-season-winds-down/

Chargers face challenges as regular season winds down

Can Chargers find consistency, stay healthy and make a run in their
first postseason since the 2018 season?

By Elliott Teaford | eteaford@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: December 31, 2022 at 12:02 p.m. | UPDATED: December 31, 2022
at 12:02 p.m.

Now what? Now that the Chargers have clinched an AFC wild-card berth,
where do they go from here? Can they defeat the Rams and Denver Broncos,
teams going nowhere, in their final two regular-season games and improve
their playoff seeding, possibly moving to fifth from sixth?

Can the Chargers continue to improve their play and make an extended
playoff run in their first postseason appearance since the 2018 season?

Throughout the season, over the course of the first 15 games, there’s
been a sense that the Chargers can do better, that their best is yet to
come. There has been a notion that the promise and expectations of a
team on the rise haven’t been met as a nerve-jangling season has unfolded.

No question, the Chargers’ improved defensive play has sparked a
three-game winning streak going into Sunday’s game against the Rams at
SoFi Stadium. Chargers coach Brandon Staley said there was plenty of
room for improvement Sunday and next week against the Denver Broncos.

The return of edge rusher Joey Bosa after a three-month layoff because
of a groin injury that required surgery could give the Chargers’ a
much-anticipated boost heading into the final two regular-season games
and the playoffs beyond. Bosa will play a limited role Sunday against
the Rams.

“We still have a lot more gears that we can get to as a defense,” Staley
said when asked if the defense was playing its best in recent games.
“There are so many more things that are within this group. This is what
we have to attack in the next game and these next opportunities that we
get.”

Certainly, the Chargers’ offense doesn’t appear to have come close to
the consistency that was expected of it going into the season. It’s been
effective when needed, especially in recent close games against the
Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans, but seems capable of so much more.

The returns of wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have done
wonders for the Chargers’ offense during their three-game winning
streak, adding depth and experience to a position that cried out for it
while they were sidelined by hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively.

“I think just to move the ball consistently, to execute in the red zone,
limit turnovers and convert on third downs,” Chargers quarterback Justin
Herbert said of the offense’s goals. “The same things that we are
attacking every week. It’s a great opportunity for us to get better.
Still two weeks of work and improvement, so hopefully we will get things
to be more consistent.”

It has been a season marked by wild swings of success and failure,
injuries to key players, an ability to keep plugging away and,
ultimately, reach the point they expected to reach all along.
Consistency has been elusive in many of their games, but there’s still a
chance to achieve it.

The Rams – with no chance to defend their Super Bowl title after they
were eliminated from the NFC playoff race, but with plenty of talent and
motivation – could prove to be a challenge for the Chargers to overcome
Sunday. The Rams could be just what the Chargers need to push them to
greater heights.

As much as he would like to rest key players such as Herbert, Allen,
Williams, running back Austin Ekeler and other skill players on offense
and standout defensive players such as defensive lineman Sebastian
Joseph-Day and edge rusher Khalil Mack, Staley also wants to win the
final two.

Playoff seeding is important for the sixth-seeded Chargers. If the
playoff started Sunday, they would play the third-seeded Cincinnati
Bengals. Winning their final two could move them into fifth and a date
with the AFC South winner, either the Titans or Jacksonville Jaguars.

One victory would keep them from falling to seventh.

“We’re worried about all of it, but we are trying to win every game to
improve our positioning, for sure,” Staley said when asked about resting
players. “You factor in those individual health situations, I think, on
a case-by-case basis. That is kind of how you have to treat it. The
facts are on the ground this week.

“We have to play this week and then we’ll see what happens next week.
You’re taking both of those things into consideration, but I think the
biggest thing for us is we want to be playing our best football and how
we do that is attacking these next two weeks in the right way and this
game against the Rams because this team is going to really bring out the
best in us. They are a playoff-caliber team and organization.”