The Los Angeles Chargers face the Saints this week in their first home game since Week 4 against the Chiefs. Below are ways they can get a “W” for the home crowd:
5 Keys To Victory For Chargers Against The Saints
1. Attack The Pocket
The Saints offensive line is struggling. They currently have a rookie offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, who was responsible for three sacks in his last game and 23 total quarterback pressures on the season. Veterans Saints offensive tackles Trevor Penning and Landon Young have not fared any better. Penning in particular is responsible for two sacks and 17 quarterback pressures, and had the most in last week’s match-up (eight) against Denver. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Saints have had three games with pass blocking grades in the 20s.
Luke Johnson of the The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, relayed that offensive guard Cesar Ruiz could come back for this next game and he logged a limited practice on Wednesday as did offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, but their center, Erik McCoy, who went out during Week 3, is still out, as he’s on injured reserve after having groin surgery.
Though the Chargers have been having their own issues with injuries, especially in the secondary, most of their core pass-rushing unit, with the exception of edge rusher Joey Bosa, continues to be healthy, so they should have no issues breaking down the pocket to disrupt the play of Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.
2. Cover the Two Biggest Offensive Weapons

The Chargers defense, especially its secondary, is banged up with cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor having just returned for Monday night’s game after being out with a fibula injury, while cornerback Kristian Fulton is working through a hamstring injury and also managed to play against the Cardinals. Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is still on injured reserve with a shoulder injury while defensive back Deane Leonard recently went to injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Though one of the Saints’ biggest offensive threats, wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, is out for the year, the Chargers will still have to contend with two threats in Saints running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Chris Olave.
The tackling in Monday night’s game against the Cardinals was not great, considering Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had a runaway 44-yard touchdown during the first drive of the fourth, and neither edge rusher Khalil Mack nor linebacker Junior Colson could stop him. And Cardinals running back James Conner was getting first downs left and right, while the entire Chargers defense struggled to bring him down.
So the Chargers need to clean this up.
Safeties Derwin James Jr. and Alohi Gilman have to be all over Olave and Kamara. Cornerback Cam Hart performed well in his first couple of starts, but he’s had some missteps, and any type of explosive play may be an issue until this secondary is completely healthy. So missed tackles cannot be part of the equation this week. Tight end Taysom Hill has also been working through a rib injury but will be available for the game.
The Saints also signed wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Monday, so the Chargers should be prepared to focus their efforts on him.
3. Get The Wide Receivers Healthy

Though the Saints are banged up, they do still have some great defensive pieces such as cornerback Marshon Lattimore and safety Tyrann Mathieu who each have some of the highest receiver coverage grades of the team. Linebacker Demario Davis is an additional threat.
The key to contend with this will be the Chargers getting back some of their key receiver pieces like wide receiver Quentin Johnston who was out last week with an ankle injury, and making sure that Ladd McConkey gets healthier, who’s been battling a hip injury, as they’ll need these guys with youth, chemistry with Herbert, and speed on their side to contend against this coverage.
I expect the tight ends to be more involved as Will Dissly was against the Cardinals, though Dissly is also battling a shoulder injury and did not practice as of Wednesday. If some of these core players continue to struggle to get healthy, perhaps it’s time to invite back former Charger Mike Williams, though the injury concerns will not dissipate with him.
4. Throw All The Run Plays At Them

Run defense seems to be the kryptonite for this Saints team with most of their PFF scores throughout the season thus far in the 40s. This is the time when the Chargers will need to utilize more run plays, especially if their wide receivers aren’t healthy. They had a heck of a time on Monday night getting any running plays going and that’s because the protection was dissolving, so that will need to be fixed to help them get back to running the ball better.
And run plays don’t only mean relying on running backs J.K. Dobbins and Kimani Vidal but also mean if quarterback Justin Herbert is healthy enough, seeing more designed rushes from him, even if it’s to get some easy yardage. He’s able to create magic when he has time to move, so it wouldn’t hurt to break out a bit more of that for this next game.
5. Keep The Offensive Momentum Up In The Second Half
The Chargers have had an issue this season and last in getting touchdowns in the second half of games. Kicker Cameron Dicker put on a clinic Monday night but one of the reasons the Chargers didn’t win that game is because they solely relied on his golden foot for points. There were no touchdowns in that game at all.
There have been a lot of injuries, so that may be why the offense has been stagnant, but regardless, the Chargers need to do a better job to keep up that first-half momentum. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has done well with the backups in positions like cornerback and this needs to happen on the offensive side, where some of these receivers and running backs down the depth chart and on the practice squad have to start distinguishing themselves. Simi Fehoko has started to become a reliable target, but that’s going to need to happen with more people to help this team succeed.