Is Chargers’ schedule softening?
An NFL team’s strength of schedule is like the weather in Colorado.
One day it’s sunny and warm, the next day there’s a snowstorm. Or vice-versa.
Take the Chargers’ 2014 schedule, particularly the first half.
With the Cardinals and others hit by injury and suspension, it looks less dicey than when announced in April.
It’s been a bad summer for the Arizona defense that Philip Rivers will face in the opener Sept. 8. The Cardinals lost Daryl Washington (drug suspension) and Darnell Dockett (torn ACL) for the season. Both are difference makers. I consider Washington to be better than any Chargers linebacker. Dockett is superior to any Chargers defensive lineman other than Corey Liuget.
Moreover, Arizona’s defense could lose another key starter before Sept. 8, if the NFL suspends edge rusher John Abraham for his June 29th DUI arrest.
Abraham, who led the Cardinals in sacks last year with 11.5, missed most of the first three weeks of training camp before reporting Aug. 14. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported he spent time in a rehab facility while he was away from the team.
Summer misfortune also claimed a difference maker from San Diego’s third opponent. Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso tore his ACL during a June workout in Oregon. Alonso was a rising star whose rookie season last year, I believe, beat that of any linebacker with the 2013 Chargers.
The Jaguars, who’ll be in Mission Valley for the Week 4 game, look improved from last year. But their most talented receiver, Justin Blackmon, won’t be on the active roster. Blackmon, already under indefinite NFL suspension for drug use, was arrested this summer for alleged marijuana possession and a driving violation.
The Chargers won’t face the Chiefs until Week 7. But it seems Kansas City’s offensive line will be less capable than last year’s unit that influenced a 9-0 start. Along with losing Pro Bowl left tackle Branden Albert and two guards to free agency last offseason, the Chiefs on Friday lost their starting right tackle, Donald Stephenson, to a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. I rated Stephenson the line’s second best player, behind center Rodney Hudson.
Stephenson will be eligible to face the Chargers; however, his absence is another blow to the line’s continuity, an important element to an offense’s development. Meanwhile, Albert’s replacement, Eric Fisher, the No. 1 pick in 2013, has looked shaky in exhibitions.
Of course the Chargers aren’t exempted from misfortune, self-inflicted or otherwise. They have to sort out their own issues, such as firming up their defensive line. The Cardinals, for what it’s worth, still employ top-flight defenders, notably cornerback Patrick Peterson and underrated end Calais Campbell. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians directed the injury-battered Colts to the 2012 playoffs and his first Arizona team to a 10-6 record. His birds even beat the Seahawks in Seattle.
It’s short of nutty to believe, however, that the Chargers will be 6-2 midway through the season.
