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Chargers offense is off, but not far off

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Malcom Floyd, knowing Ryan Mathews was behind him, hesitated mid-route, seemingly wanting to see what Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden was going to do.

As Hayden closed on Mathews, Floyd realized he’d slowed down too soon and stayed that way too long. He suddenly sped up, sprinting after Mathews and desperately lunging at Hayden as the cornerback brought down Mathews.

On the ground next to Mathews at the end of the play, Floyd smacked his hands together. He knew he’d been the difference between a 20-yard gain and a 57-yard touchdown run. The Chargers ended up kicking a 52-yard field goal on the drive.

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“I was so mad,” Floyd acknowledged Wednesday.

That’s as good a play as any to illustrate how these are the worst of times for the Chargers offense but oh-so-close to being much better times.

By many measures, in Philip Rivers’ nine seasons (138 games) as the Chargers’ starting quarterback there has never been a four-game stretch as bad as the one in which the Chargers’ offense is mired.

Never have they scored just 54 points over a four-game span. Just two times have they converted fewer third down than the 34.1 percent they’ve been averaging these four games. Just twice have they gained fewer than 1,035 yards in a four-game stretch.

It’s ugly. No one denies that. It has to get turned around if the Chargers are to win enough over the final six games to make the postseason. Everyone knows that.

If there is reason for optimism, it lies in both history and a closer look at where and why the Chargers have failed of late. Those things suggest their situation is not as hopeless as it may have seemed in recent weeks.

“It’s always looking out for any tweaks we can make,” Rivers said of the remedy for the offense’s current malady. “But it’s also not overreacting and just saying what we’re doing is good … Not to downplay the negatives but not to overreact and say, ‘Let’s just keep going.’ “

Rivers said that based on experience. The bad times don’t last forever. Even depleted by injury – and let’s not underestimate the effect of the losses of center Nick Hardwick and running back Danny Woodhead – an offense doesn’t just permanently lose its mojo.

Rivers remembers every NFL game he’s played with remarkable clarity. On Wednesday, he listed some bad stretches and contended some were worse than what the offense is presently enduring.

In one four-game stretch in 2010, the Chargers converted 34.1 percent of their third downs, same as they have the past four games. In winning three of the next four games after that slump, they converted at a 68.3 percent clip.

As for the current offensive nosedive – which comes after a five-game run in which they averaged almost 30 points and 400 yards a game and converted 56.4 percent of their third downs – it hasn’t been all bad and been a miss here and there from being good.

It’s not acceptable, by any means.

On Nov. 2 in Miami, the Chargers were shut out for the first time in 242 regular season games. They’ve scored one touchdown in the past eight quarters. Over these four games, they’ve had 17 possessions last three or fewer plays and end in punt, interception or fumble. That’s 40 percent of their possessions.

Certainly, the offensive line is in a tenuous, even tattered, state. Multiple times a game, including on crucial third down passes and some that have resulted in interceptions, Rivers could not step into a throw because a defender had breached his space. That might not get better without extra protection and different play calls. It’s certainly time for offensive coordinator Frank Reich to get creative.

But not every missed run block can’t be rectified. Also, there have been a number of blown routes and slips by receivers, things that weren’t happening previously. “Almost” plays, such as the one Floyd botched, have been plentiful.

“If one of us is off,” Floyd said, “it usually messes up the whole play entirely.”

That’s it. The offense is a little off. It’s not entirely shut off.

It can be turned on. It has to be quickly.

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