Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - This has been a tumultuous season for Buffalo Bills fans, watching a team with a superhuman franchise quarterback struggle to even get into the playoffs.
With Josh Allen at quarterback, it's about as bad as a season could go.
However, the Los Angeles Chargers have managed to top it.
To be fair, Justin Herbert, who the Bills will not see Saturday night, is not quite as superhuman as Allen. Herbert has insane arm talent, on par with Allen and Patrick Mahomes, but does not even compare when it comes to creating plays with his athleticism.
Despite not being the most mobile quarterback, Herbert does everything he can to lift the Chargers out of obscurity. He makes multiple throws every week that can make anyone's jaw hit the floor.
Yet, the Chargers have done everything to screw it up around him.
Brandon Staley developed into, arguably, the worst head coach in the NFL. After spending the first year of his tenure as Chargers head coach showing the world he will not cower, becoming the most aggressive coach in the NFL when it comes to game-management decisions, Staley became a complete chicken with a horrendous defense over the next two seasons.
As a defensive-minded head coach, Staley's defenses ranked 23rd, 20th, and 29th with the Chargers.
The Chargers' offense surrounding Herbert failed him too.
How would you surround a big-armed quarterback that can make every throw on the field, but isn't the best at scrambling? Speed that gets open down the field, and an elite offensive line? I like your thinking, but the Chargers have not done that.
Instead, the Chargers spent 2021 and 2022 with Joe Lombardi as their offensive coordinator. Lombardi comes from the Sean Payton tree of coaches, and it shows. He built an entire offense around Herbert as if he was 40-year-old Drew Brees with short slants and screens.
The Chargers have made three big investments at wide receiver - Keenan Allen, an elite slot guy, Mike Williams, a contested catch guy, and Quentin Johnston. Those three ran an average 40-time of 4.59. Basically whenever Herbert has wanted to show off his cannon arm, he's had to fit it into a covered receiver.
On top of the mistakes with the offense and the defense, the Chargers every year are one of the most injured teams in the league. It's at a point where it can't be a coincidence. I'm willing to bypass a benefit of the doubt to a team that stabbed Tyrod Taylor in the lungs with a needle, costing him a season.
Everything this year has culminated into a 5-9 campaign where, even now, Herbert is injured and unable to play.
Despite landing a franchise quarterback, the Chargers have been unable to escape their reputation. They're the Chargers. They've always been like this.
The Bills, meanwhile, did escape their reputation once Allen arrived.
Even though it's felt like this season with the Bills that things couldn't be any worse, just take a peak over at the Chargers, where it is definitively much, much worse.
