If there is any good news following the Los Angeles Chargers sloppy and humiliating loss to the division-rival Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Hats , it’s that it’s squarely in the rear-view mirror – and thank God for that. After a full week of practice, and hopefully a whole lot of film study, they’re headed to Buffalo for a Sunday tilt with Josh Allen and the hapless Bills.As you probably know by now, the Bills lost to the Ravens by 44 points last week in a game that saw Nathan Peterman and Josh Allen take six sacks and turn the ball over twice. This is not an offensive unit that did much of anything well in its season opener, as you might expect from a team that managed only three points, was 2/11 on third down, and recorded a measly eight first downs in 60:00 of football.Based on what they did, or didn’t do against the Ravens, as the case may be; the Bills look like a perfect get-well match-up for a Chargers defense that struggled in its own right in its season-opener. With that in mind, let’s take a look at my defensive game plan for Sunday’s game against the Bills鈥tack the boxEveryone knows Bills head coach Sean McDermott wants to run the ball, and Sunday should be no different. It obviously gets LeSean McCoy involved early, but it also helps them protect Josh Allen as he makes his first NFL start. The problem is, his offensive line is brutal and, as mentioned above, everyone knows it’s coming. Yes, even Gus Bradley should be prepared for it.That’s why I expect to see eight and nine-man boxes on early downs. Look for the Chargers to attempt to eliminate running lanes by crowding the line of scrimmage. I’d also expect a steady diet of slants from the Chargers defensive tackles and, hopefully, a focus on A-gap blitzes as Gus Bradley looks to challenge the interior of the Buffalo offensive line.Gang tackleAs mentioned above, we all know the Bills will try to run the ball early. And, as we saw in this matchup last year, LeSean McCoy isn’t exactly easy to bring down in tight quarters, or in the open field. He shredded the Chargers nickel and dime defenses for 114 yards on 14 carries last season and will look to repeat that performance in front of his home crowd on Sunday.The Chargers must rally to the football as a team and gang tackle McCoy. They can’t afford to stand and watch their teammates try to bring him down one-on-one in the open field when one missed tackle could lead to a 70-yard house call. The second level of the Los Angeles defense, in particular, has to play through the whistle and bring Shady down the first time, or it could be a long, long day in Buffalo.Fire in the holeAside from a general lack of accuracy, the biggest thing that plagued Josh Allen in college was an inability to identify and adjust to on-coming blitzes. He would frequently misdiagnose blitzes Los Angeles Chargers Womens Hoodie , hold the ball, and take bad sacks in his haste to push the ball down the field – and that hasn’t really changed to this point in his very young NFL career.The goal for the Chargers defense should be to create an immediate sense of chaos in the pocket by making the rookie feel trapped and crowded on every pass drop. That starts with twists, slants and stunts designed to drive the Buffalo interior line into Allen’s lap, but it also means hammering the A-gaps with blitzes and sending players like Derwin James, Desmond King and Kyzir White off the edges. If all goes to plan, the Buffalo signal-caller should be confused and more focused on the pass rush than he is on his receivers by the start of the second half.Press onThe Buffalo receivers looked lethargic against Baltimore. Zay Jones, Kelvin Benjamin and Jeremy Kerley struggled to separate, dropped balls, and didn’t seem overly interested in going out of their way to help their quarterbacks. This is a group that played slow on tape and, perhaps even more alarmingly, a couple of them appeared to check out and alligator-arm balls once the team fell behind.They represent the perfect matchup for the Chargers secondary, which thrived on being physical and aggressive in 2017; even if they weren’t given the opportunity to do that against the Chiefs last week. I’d like to see Gus Bradley let them crowd and jam Benjamin, Jones and Kerley as frequently as possible, daring the receivers to beat them over the top and creating tight windows for Josh Allen in the passing game.Despite what unfolded against the Chiefs last week, I do not anticipate the Bills posing much of a challenge for the Bolts on Sunday. I just don’t think they’re very good on either side of the ball and I expect the visitors to find ways to speed the game up and force critical errors from Josh Allen in his first career start. As long as they stack the box, gang tackle McCoy, attack Allen from multiple angles and press those wide receivers, this should be a fairly easy win for Anthony Lynn’s team.That’s my game plan, what’s yours? Let me have it in the comments section鈥J.J. Jones, Sam Tevi, and banging your head against the wall Hello friends, it’s your friendly neighborhood deputy manager here at BFTB and I’m here to answer YOUR questions about all things Chargers in advance of Sunday’s match-up against the Buffalo Bills.I want to keep the line of communication fairly open between the staff and those of you who give us your precious time on a weekly basis so a mailbag sounded like a splendid idea to fill this glaring omission.Not much to say other than that so let’s get right to your questions.(Long, audible sigh)This is going to be a rough couple of weeks if Joe Barksdale finds himself sidelined. So as to not be negative from start to finish, I have to give Tevi some kudos. He took his lumps against the Chiefs after being forced into the lineup. However, he also helped spring Melvin Gordon for his first chunk run of the game, showing some nice poise as he worked to the second level.Tevi is actually more athletic than Barksdale and it’s evident in how naturally he moves around the field. This doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t have the normal fundamentals down pat that you would want in a starting offensive tackle. Tev is still so raw and we can only hope that reps with the starters will surely help him get up to speed.Do I think Forrest Lamp could step in and be a better right tackle than Tevi, or even Michael Schofield? Of course. Will that ever happen? Probably not. Coach Lynn and co. are still pretty predictable and there hasn’t been a word about Lamp potentially playing tackle since the days following his selection in last year’s draft.I honestly think the more realistic option would be to stick Lamp at right guard and have Schofield play right tackle since Schofield has some experience in that position going back to his time with the Broncos during their Super Bowl season.Oh hello Nick. Good to see you again.You know Womens Customized Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys , I’m not entirely sure. Realistically, no, I do not think Melvin Gordon is “bad” at his job, but I don’t think he’s as amazing as everyone expects him to be, either. There’s only been a handful of notable running backs in history to have averaged under four yards per carry during there career. The biggest nams actually being guys like Archie Griffin, Jerome Bettis, and Cadillac Williams.We can all agree or disagree on what Gordon is actually good or bad at all day long, but the numbers speak for themselves. Backs who average under 4.0 per carry are almost always of the forgotten variety sooner rather than later.If Gordon wants to prove Nick and the other nay-sayers wrong, he’s just going to have to show us on the field each and every week.After the team let us all down after allowing the Raiders to sign DT Johnathan Hankins, I honestly don’t see another free agent that would be of much value to the team in the here and now.Some websites have noted cornerback as a position the Chargers could use some FA help with, but that’s just not the case. Casey Hayward, Trevor Williams, and Desmond King will be just fine. Michael Davis seems to be coming along, as well.Defensive tackle was really the only position I was open to and that got teased in our face before being yanked away as we reached out for it.As much as we all got excited about Jones after his punt return touchdown in the preseason, myself included, the truth is that he is still a UDFA after coming from a division II school where he wasn’t really a game-breaker, anyway.But if anything, it takes a special type of player to come into this team and not fall victim to “charger-ing” and I just don’t think Jones was ever going to avoid it. If he gets another shot against the Bills, then so be it. If there was ever a chance for him to get comfortable back there, this is the game to do it.My dream pick in the first round would be Jeffrey Simmons, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle prospect from Mississippi State. In the episode of our Almost Gameday Saturday podcast, Matthew Stanley and I talked about Simmons and his ability to play almost anywhere along the defensive line while being equally skilled in rushing the passer and playing the run. He is also currently the highest-graded interior defensive linemen according to Pro Football Focus after the first two weeks of the college football season.No matter how you word it, the iDL is underwhelming and strikes no fear in the hearts of their opponents. The fastest way to the quarterback is a straight line and that means that the most devastating pressure is created up the middle, which is why players like Aaron Donald and Geno Atkins are out here getting paid the big bucks.
