Chargers review: Improved offense key to Sunday night showdown with Chiefs

The Chargers barely mentioned what was to come after their defense carried them to a 17-13 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons, and maybe it was best that they not look farther ahead than a long flight home and a few hours to celebrate their eighth victory of the season.

What comes next is a challenge unlike any they have faced so far in 2024. Well, except for Week 4, when they dropped a 17-10 decision to the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at SoFi Stadium. The rematch will be Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

Here’s what we learned, what we heard and, of course, what comes next for the Chargers, who could use a signature victory over the Chiefs to solidify their AFC wild-card bid and create a more favorable playoff matchup than a snowy trip to play the Buffalo Bills or Pittsburgh Steelers:

WHAT, JIM WORRY?

Coach Jim Harbaugh admitted the Chargers struggled to move the ball against the Falcons, grinding to a halt in the second half. The Chargers failed to top 200 net yards of total offense and relied on three field goals from Cameron Dicker and Tarheeb Still’s interception return for a touchdown to win.

“It’s a beautiful thing we’re witnessing,” Harbaugh said, smiling when asked directly about the Chargers’ lack of offensive punch against the Falcons, a team that had just lost its third consecutive game. “Complementary, winning football. Yeah, there were times that we weren’t at our best offensively.”

Harbaugh then went into a long jag about the Chargers’ two-point conversion after Still’s 61-yard touchdown return of a Kirk Cousins interception. Harbaugh wasn’t wrong to praise the work of quarterback Justin Herbert and Joshua Palmer to get the job done in crunch time.

But the lack of an effective ground game with J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve and sidelined for a minimum of four games probably was to be expected. The Chargers managed only 56 yards on 17 carries. Gus Edwards, Dobbins’ replacement for the time being, rushed for 32 yards on six carries.

The lack of an effective passing game after halftime was another story entirely. Herbert and rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey formed a strong connection in the first half. McConkey set a Chargers rookie record for receiving yards in a first half with 105 yards, breaking Keenan Allen’s mark of 104 in 2013.

Herbert and McConkey helped to set up Dicker for three field goals in the first half, but then everything went haywire in the second half. McConkey was the only one of the Chargers’ receivers who could get free from the Falcons’ tight coverage. Herbert finished 16 of 23 for 147 yards and was sacked five times.

McConkey caught nine passes for 117 yards before he injured his knee and was forced from the game in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, obviously not the way that we want to play,” Herbert said. “We’re not impressed or pleased with how we played, but we’re very happy that we won. Our defense came up with some huge stops, got a bunch of turnovers. They showed up and we’ve got to do better as an offense.”

MIXING AND MATCHING

The Chargers (8-4) must improve on the ground and through the air if they are to upset the Chiefs (11-1) on “Sunday Night Football.” Actually, they must improve both if they are to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders, their final regular-season opponents.

Establishing a reliable ground game in the absence of Dobbins figures to be the biggest challenge the Chargers face in Week 14. Dobbins rushed for a team-leading 766 yards and eight touchdowns on 158 carries before he sprained his knee in the Chargers’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12.

“We can be better in the run game,” Harbaugh acknowledged before going into another extended explanation of the greatness of the Herbert-to-Palmer connection on the two-point conversion that extended the Chargers’ lead to 17-10 with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter.

Again, he wasn’t wrong.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The Chiefs play host to the Chargers with AFC West bragging rights at stake. The Chiefs don’t want to lose and feel the Chargers’ hot breath on their necks over the regular season’s final weeks. The Chargers don’t want to lose to the Chiefs and worry about their playoff seeding during a stretch run in which the schedule eases somewhat. It’s a matchup befitting a national television audience.