Advertisement
Advertisement

Mike McCoy: Run game must improve

Share

Mike McCoy paid a visit Sunday to his offensive line.

A win over the Jaguars was in its final minutes. The Chargers coach saw a coachable moment, leaving his usual post on the sideline’s outer edge for a back bench around which the linemen congregate between series.

This was their time.

Advertisement

This was when, he said, the team could run the football with success, chew up the clock, and ice a victory in the four-minute offense. A week earlier, the Chargers had eight carries for zero yards in the fourth quarter, punting five times in the period. This next possession could be different.

San Diego then ran six plays. All were runs. They earned one first down and averaged 3.2 yards an attempt. After a field goal, Jacksonville reclaimed possession with 1:13 left in regulation.

“It went a little better than last week,” guard Chad Rinehart said, “but it’s still not good enough.”

The Chargers are 3-1. Their offense, led by quarterback Philip Rivers, has been a large reason why. It might may seem nitpicky or downright negative to single out a weakness amid a three-game winning streak. But the running game has been that poor, it is considered that important moving forward, and McCoy was that emphatic Monday when discussing the need for correction.

McCoy called the area “the big negative, obviously” during the opening statement to his press conference.

“It’s nowhere where it needs to be,” McCoy said. “We’ll continue to work at it. Each player’s got to look at himself first individually. Coaches, we’ve got to look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and who we’re doing it with. But it’s up to each individual, players and coaches, to find a way to get it done.”

San Diego had 20 carries Sunday for 42 yards.

The 2.1-yard average kept the league’s least efficient running attack at 2.4 yards per attempt. The Lions and Panthers, at a distant 3.1, are tied for second worst. On first down, the Chargers ran the ball 10 times Sunday for eight yards. They now have 63 first-down rushes this year for 115 yards, a league-low rate of 1.83 yards an attempt.

It all starts up front.

McCoy graded the run blocking of his offensive line as “not good enough.”

“That’s a given,” he added. “You average what we’re averaging right now, it’s nowhere close to good enough.”

His line agrees.

After meetings Monday, right tackle D.J. Fluker said the unit must do a better job of “finishing blocks.” Rinehart said to watch the game back is “frustrating. It seems like every play, there’s like one guy. It’s not like complete collapses. Just one guy every play. It’s about consistency all throughout the line.”

This will get better. Historically, it practically has to.

Only two teams have averaged fewer than 3 yards a carry for a season since 1965. They were the 1994 Patriots (2.8) and 1986 Patriots (2.9). Last year, the Chargers averaged 4.0 yards per attempt.

The team expects to improve even before top back Ryan Mathews’ likely return in the coming weeks from a knee injury.

“I’ve got a ton of confidence in our offense,” McCoy said. “We should run the football better. I’ve seen it been done with the guys we have, the way we ran the football in the past, and the way we’ve done it the week of practice through training camp, all those things you work on.

“I know we can run the football better. We have to run the football better. We will run the football better.”

Nuts ‘n’ Bolts

• Cornerback Shareece Wright underwent an MRI Monday for a right knee injury sustained Sunday. He walked with a sleeve over his knee and declined comment on the test’s results. Optimism has surrounded the situation. It appears unlikely that he’ll miss significant time.

• Tight end Antonio Gates called Rivers “the MVP in my opinion right now.” Rivers has a league-high 114.5 quarterback rating, having completed 70.1 percent of his passes for 1,155 yards, nine touchdowns and an interception.

Advertisement