One step forward, two steps backwards. The Los Angeles Chargers are officially not in first place in the AFC West after a throttling at the hands of the now one-seeded Indianapolis Colts. Now what?

Jesse Minter’s Unit is a Problem

I’m going to be very honest, you won’t find many people who were more excited about the Jesse Minter hire than I was. This makes it so difficult to understand where it's gone wrong. Minter’s unit has played sloppily for about a month now, tackling poorly, failing to maintain an edge constantly, and coverage busts that resemble a high school team.

I’m not ready to throw all of this on the shoulders of Minter, but there comes a time when Minter’s trademark 2-high shell has to take a back seat, and when your run defense is creeping towards the bottom of the barrel, I believe we have reached that point. Coming into the game against the Colts, the Bolts allowed 394 rushing yards on designed attempts over the three weeks prior. Then came the league's best rusher, Jonathan Taylor, who dropped a hat trick of touchdowns and over 100 total yards. During the span of that game, we saw the Chargers stick to their 2-high shell as they were carved up.

Reinforcements are Coming

Khalil Mack returned to the lineup with a sack on Sunday, but as Thursday approaches, the Chargers are expecting the return of starting tackles Joe Alt and Trey Pipkins. Giving us the Week 1 starting offensive line of Joe Alt, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Mehki Becton, and Trey Pipkins, that kept Justin Herbert upright all game against the Kansas City Chiefs. If both Alt and Pipkins are active and able to play anywhere close to 100%, it’s very likely the Chargers look more like the team people were crowning future kings of the AFC West (especially with the full-blown emergence of Oronde Gadsden II), and less like the team allowing their QB to be pressured on more than 50% of dropbacks.

Off-Season Decisions are Coming Back to Bite the Bolts

Actions have consequences. The Chargers' run defense was much better last year as a result of both Poona Ford and Teair Tart manning the middle, allowing Minter’s 2-high shell to eliminate big plays while still being a stout run defense. The Chargers let Poona Ford walk to the Rams for a contract worth less than the one they gave Bradley Bozeman in the off-season, effectively choosing the much-maligned center over one of the best IDL’s in the entire league in Ford. The Bozeman contract has aged unfathomably badly, as he is playing unfathomably badly.

Not finding a center when it was a massive need, not retaining their best defensive lineman in Ford, not drafting more O-line depth, not addressing the linebacker room in the slightest, and despite having 90 million in cap space to work with in the offseason, their best signing happened to be 33-year-old Keenan Allen about a month before the season started. In the most important offseason of the Harbaugh/Horwitz rebuild, they missed on much more than was acceptable.

Get Right Game Coming Up?

Nothing says “Get Right” like a chance to play against a familiar face. The last time Justin Herbert ran into the high-pressure scheme of Brian Flores, Herbert tore Flores apart on a level that can only be described as historic. One of the most impressive displays of quarterbacking in the face of pressure the sport has ever seen. Herbert connected with Keenan Allen 18 times for north of 200 yards in this contest, exposing the many different zone blitz looks Flores can throw at a QB, and making them pay every time they tried to man up on the future Hall-of-Famer. If Herbert and Keenan can find anything close to that level of success on Thursday, along with the return of his tackles, we could be looking at another all-timer from the golden arm of Herbert.

As far as the defense is concerned, nothing can help a team and coach out of a funk like going against a struggling, turnover-prone QB, enter Carson Wentz. Fresh off a multi-INT game, Wentz immediately has to try to turn the page on a short week against a unit hungry to bounce back in the Bolts' defense. If the Chargers' defense can’t capitalize this week, it might be time to write the obituary.