Advertisement
Advertisement

Chargers offense expects to be better

Share

Ken Whisenhunt moved out of his office.

Photos, such of his wife and two children, were boxed. Books were stored. Other belongings followed the coordinator to Nashville in January when he became Titans head coach.

The Chargers offense did not leave with him.

Advertisement

It wasn’t his to take.

Losing a coordinator, even one of Whisenhunt’s caliber, hasn’t kept San Diego from raising the bar on expectations for 2014. This is its second season in the same offensive system. As a rival recently proved, the Chargers have reason to be optimistic for year two, their steady structure around the quarterback outweighing the departure of an influential coach on staff.

The 2014 Chargers resemble the 2013 Broncos in that respect.

“I think there are some parallels there,” quarterback Philip Rivers said in acknowledgement.

Last year, the Broncos began their offseason after a divisional playoff loss in Denver. A bright offensive mind, coordinator Mike McCoy, left to accept a head coach position days later, coincidentally in San Diego. Denver elevated quarterbacks coach Adam Gase. At its core, the offense’s foundation was preserved, the quarterback and system intact.

This January, the Chargers lost in the divisional round in Denver. Whisenhunt took the Tennessee job the next day. Quarterbacks coach Frank Reich was promoted. Rivers and the scheme remain.

No one knows what happens next. Certainly, it would be difficult to match the NFL all-time record 606 points, among other stat superlatives, that Denver totaled en route to a Super Bowl appearance. But the Chargers similarly look to build on last year when they were among the most efficient units in the league.

“There is no question. Our expectations are higher. We expect to be better,” Reich said. “We probably play as tough a schedule as you can this year in terms of defenses. For me, it’s not necessarily a statistical ‘getting better.’ It’s what Coach McCoy always preaches: Find a way to win every game. Last year, we let some games slip away that we should have won. I hope we have better statistical numbers than we had last year, but the main point is to win more football games.”

This offense, McCoy says, was “built to last.”

There is a shared sense of ownership in the scheme the Chargers run. It combines a number of coaching influences, from McCoy to Reich to Whisenhunt, with concepts that Rivers is comfortable with, dating back to several NFL seasons prior to the three men’s arrival.

A number of instances took place last offseason where the coaches were receptive to Rivers’ feedback.

If he wasn’t comfortable with a terminology, it was changed. If there was something he liked in the past, maybe a play that was run in a certain game years back, the film would be dug up in the archive, considered for implementation and, often, installed. The end result was an offense whose newness Rivers said quickly faded.

This technically is year two.

A credit to the offense coming together, Rivers said its existence feels more dated. McCoy hoped for this.

“As the coordinator and head coach, when you give everyone an opportunity to express their opinion and you put it all together, it becomes ‘our’ offense,” McCoy said. “It’s not Frank’s offense. It’s not my offense. It’s not Philip’s offense. It’s our offense. It’s the San Diego Chargers of 2014. I expect it to be better than last year. I honestly do -- (for) everybody on offense, not just Philip. It’s the second year in the system. It doesn’t matter who’s calling plays. It’s the system in place.”

Rivers senses it on the field.

This was a custom car of an offense. When out of the garage, the players were given the keys.

Rivers has more control at the line of scrimmage than ever before in his career. Reich, a former 12-year NFL quarterback, can appreciate a football mind. He said that he’s seen Rivers make “Ph.D.” caliber decisions on the field, and he allows the veteran to check in and out of plays, trusting him and others on the field.

In the first exhibition game this month, Rivers checked into a short pass in the left flat that running back Danny Woodhead took 25 yards.

There have been times when Rivers has read a defense pre-snap, senses its coverage and makes a check involving, say, wide receiver Eddie Royal.

“Eddie’s got to be like, ‘I know why he’s getting to it. He’s fixin’ to get this route on this coverage,’ ” Rivers said. “We have to stick together. If it’s the other way, it doesn’t work. That’s why guys have really taken to it because they feel a sense of ownership. It’s like, ‘We’re a little bit in charge out there on the field,’ and we should be. We’re the ones between the lines. ...

“Without getting carried away, and Frank’s great with this, he says, ‘We’re going to trust you all’s decision on the field.’ No, you can’t just go out there and do whatever you want but within the restrictions of the game plan and what we’ve set as the boundaries, when you’re on the field, we’re going to trust (your) judgement.”

The Chargers have faith in Reich.

Between his league experience as a player and coach, McCoy has shown his confidence. He had a sense Whisenhunt, if the team had the type of offense success it envisioned in 2013, would be a head coach somewhere in 2014. McCoy worked with his quarterbacks coach with an eye toward the future, similar to how McCoy worked with Gase in Denver.

There are many keys to this offense. It belongs to all of them.

Now comes another year of it.

Advertisement