Greg Roman’s Seat is Getting HOT After Disastrous Jaguars Performance | Is He the Long Term Answer?

Greg Roman’s Seat is Getting HOT After Disastrous Jaguars Performance | Is He the Long Term Answer?

After the horrendous offensive showing on Sunday, it feels like the writing is on the wall that this offense cannot reach its full potential with Greg Roman at the reigns. You are Locked on Chargers, your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Chargers, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What is up, man? Welcome into the Lockdown Chargers podcast. I’m your host, Daniel Wade, joined as always by my co-host, David Drogmire, and we’ve been covering the Chargers now for 10 years, but this is our eighth season as the host of the Lockdown Chargers podcast, bringing you your team every day as part of the number one sports podcast network. Thank you to all the everydayers out there for making us your first listen. To make sure that you never miss the show, go subscribe or follow for free on the Lockdown Chargers YouTube channel and listen wherever you get your podcast from. David, what do we got today? After a beatdown like that, you’re always going to have more questions than answers. But I think one question that’s definitely on our mind is, is Greg Roman the right man to run this Chargers offense? And how much blame does Joe Ortiz have in this? And also, can Omar Hampton’s return bring some much needed juice to this Chargers offense? We’re going to talk about that. and also how well the Chargers are going to be able to fare with a tough schedule down the stretch. Man, the winds are starting to get a lot harder to pick out when you’re looking at this Charger schedule, especially coming off of that game. But today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. David, it is buy or sell Tuesday, getting into the biggest Charger storylines and overreactions. And of course after that game there are going to be some and some that I don’t believe are overreactions and are valid storylines to be following including this one from voodoo who says buy or sell. Greg Roman is on the hot seat with inconsistency the offenses from week to week and even quarter to quarter. So I think this on face value seems like a bit of an overreaction because of it coming off of such a horrendous kind of one game. But I think the reason is not an overreaction is because this isn’t a oneame sample. This is a 25game sample, right? This is to the beginning of last year and what we’ve seen from them this year. And I understand that the Chargers offense is behind the eightball. You cannot replace two all pro tackles. He doesn’t have what he needs to work with up front. Of course, that being said, he does not know how to consistently get the most out of that group or consistently be able to run his offense with what he has. And more importantly than that, consistently find a way to protect his quarterback because sometimes offense has to be the expense of saving your quarterback when you’re not getting offense and your quarterback’s getting bludgeoned. It’s too much. And I think just at this point for me, it’s a hire that I didn’t love when it happened. I think you have to be open to the possibility that even with as many offenses that Justin Herbert has had to learn, this still might not be the right one. Yeah, you definitely have to consider that. And I mean, for any offensive coordinator to lose both of their all-star tackles and both of their running backs for most of the year or all of the year is a really tough spot to be in. But with that being said, you have we’ve seen some mechanisms that have worked, but he’s kind of gone away from some of those things. The max protections, utilizing the tight ends to help with the with that protection, getting the ball out of your quarterback’s hands quickly and into the hands of playmakers. Some of these things we we’ve seen not be used when they absolutely should be used. Right now, when you have obvious deficiencies on offense, you got to kind of have to play with the stuff that works. You got to play the hits. And I don’t think that we’ve seen that enough in an effort to try to protect your quarterback. They had eight first downs on Sunday. Like, it’s just inexcusable. They had nine drives and eight first downs. They had 135 total yards, 3.0 yards per play. Last year, they were a little bit deficient in weapons, but guess what? They had Rashan Slater and Joe Walt for most of the season. And how many scoreless halves did we have to endure where we were having this same conversation? I think he’s been better this year. I’ll say that on the front end. I still don’t think it’s good enough and I still don’t think it’s the right fit to get what they need to and get to where they need to go under his tutelage. And I think, you know, other teams like the Ravens and, you know, teams in the past have found that out later rather than sooner. I think it has to be on the table. So far this year, Chargers 20th in points per game. Uh they’re tied in 10th in yards per carry as far as rushing yards and 15th in total rushing yards, but 21st in non-quarterback rushing EPA, which means Justin Herbert is basically the reason that you’re a top 10 yards per carry team. Because when you’re not talking about his scrambling, the actual running game has just been too inconsistent. 21st in EPA per play, 27th in red zone EPA, 26th in red zone touchdown percentage. Like we’re we’re having this conversation now. It’s going to be an uglier conversation. It could be after you play a team like the Broncos again or the Eagles coming up or the Texans who already bludgeoned you last year. I we could be in for some pretty rough outings for this offense coming up here which is going to make this conversation I think a lot more relevant. But it’s not all on Greg Roman. I just think that we’ve seen the Greg Roman experiment and I’m willing to to try a different one now. So, let’s get to this one here from Atheir. Another potential overreaction here where he says, I should say in all caps, Daniel by yourself Tuesday, an overreaction, Joe Hortiz should be on the hot seat going into next off seasonason because this off season was disastrous. So, I do think this is an overreaction, but I do want to talk about this because of the blame and you know where the blame should be spread to and who deserves kind of what because I don’t think it’s all on Greg Roman. Obviously, he went into this season besides the allp pro level kind of tackles that he had with the same deficient interior offensive line that really got them killed last year outside of Mai Beckton. He’s a different story that we’ll talk about. What I would say though is he has done so well in the draft that like it makes this conversation a non-starter. The Chargers had too many empty calories in the draft under Tom Tolesco. They have hits on hits under this new guy in Joe Hortiz when you’re talking about Joe Walt and Lad Mcconi and Justin boy Camart Tarib still Kavani Vidal Amaran Hampton Trey Harris Jamari Caldwell Aronda Gaston RJ Mickens those are all guys who have played meaningful snaps and played well at times for you. So, I agree. I think he did not do a good enough job in this free agency or the offseason in general in taking care of what the Chargers biggest flaw was last season, but I think he’s far from being on the hot seat in my opinion. Yeah. No, I mean, I I don’t think he’s on in the hot seat at all. I mean, you just mentioned all all of the the fantastic picks that he’s already made within the first two years of being the general manager. I mean, obviously there’s a couple out there that that kind of kind of stick out like Junior Coulson obviously hasn’t been able to stay on the field and maybe that pick would have been better served to be used for an offensive lineman to give some protection for Justin. Obviously, hindsight is always 2020 as well. And with Kyle Canard, another situation, you you draft a pass rusher who has played 25 snaps this season. I mean, then that’s another spot. But besides that, uh, you can’t really say much about the drafting strategy besides obviously outside of Joe Walt, you only drafted one other offensive lineman and he didn’t make the team. So, that’s definitely something that you have to consider. But, I think to me, what’s been a little bit more, I guess, uh, puzzling is his utilization of of the cap space and how he’s kind of made some of these bargain bin signings when he’s had more money to play with. And I think that’s something just to pay attention to until this off season where he has a gigantic amount of money again in cap space which I mean at least you know according to reports is expected to be north of a h 100red million uh then if he doesn’t go out there and make some serious reinforcements on the offensive line with the money available at that point then I’m going to have some much bigger questions. But Joe Hortiz is definitely not the the person to be mad at from what we’ve seen so far. I definitely don’t think he’s the first person you point to. But like I think the part that’s going to live in infamy is obviously the presser with, you know, Daniel Popper where he, you know, is questioned about the interior of the offensive line and said, “I thought we were pretty good. Pop 11 wins, right?” Like you can’t have you can’t look that egotistical while ignoring something that of course instantly became one of the biggest issues on your roster yet again. you just can’t do it. And like there is something to be said about building it the right way. And I think that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to desperately avoid these big-time contracts that Tom Tlesco whiffed on in the past where you have a bunch of dead money cuz you’re cutting guys after two years and a four-year contract. And they’re trying to and you know, building through the draft is a process that’s going to take more time. You have to be able to find better band-aids than what they’ve been able to do. You have to be able to find better options and more competition than what he was able to do in free agency. Especially on the interior of that offensive line and just offensively in general, I think he has to be a lot better with the guys that he picks up in free agency. They’ve been able to like that’s a coaching or GM thing because there’s been plenty of bargain guys on defense who have gone out there and really balled out. So, it just depends where you’re looking. Joe Ortiz has to be better in free agency, but man, that man has been a wizard in the draft. One more draft class feels like it’s going to have this team feeling like an entirely different roster. Three draft classes of Joe Hortiz. The Chargers are are looking much better, I think, in 2026. But we still have more to get into because the Chargers do have some reinforcements. How much of an impact can Omaron Hampton make? We’re getting into all that and more in today’s Lockdown Chargers podcast. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your bets into a same game parlay for an even bigger shot at the payout. Or you can just go through and build a 15 plus point parlay builder. For example, you go with Austin Reeves, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kate Cunningham to all score at least 15 points. All those are are basically locks for the most part on most nights. You can get that by combining them at minus18. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. But right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. David, there’s still more overreactions and storylines to get into. Of course, I mean, we had so many. Thank you to the everydayers out there for not just helping us make, you know, helping make us the number one sports podcast network, but being able to have a show like this and have so many good options for buyer sales that we’re not going to be able to fit all of them on the show today. Maybe we’ll repurpose them uh for later on in the week because we just had so many good ones. But I think this is another one that’s I think very present on many people’s minds right now from Frankie Ruiz who says, “Buy or sell. Omar on Hampton’s return will change the rest of our season and give our defense more rest. David, are you buying or selling that? Man, that’s a gigantic statement to make. I I mean, change the the the rest of the season. Uh I I think that Omaran Hampton is a fantastic player and he will absolutely make the offense look better, but he’s not going to be able to mask all of the of the deficiencies alone by himself. He’s not going to be able to open up the holes for himself, right? Uh he’s he’s going to he’s he does a great job of I think doing more with less as far as as running through holes that are maybe not there for other players and he has that burst and he has that home run ability. I think what I’m excited about is him as a receiver being an outlet for Justin Herbert, get the ball out of his hands quickly, get to a running back that can do something in the open field and make people miss. He was, you know, 6.8 8 yards per reception, you know, 20 20 uh receptions for 136 yards. That’s pretty solid work. I mean, for for a running back, and I just think that I want to see more of that. Uh and just having another playmaker on the field, uh if you’re not going to have the offensive line, which you know, at this point, they are who they are. They are what they are have shown us to be, then you want to get everybody that you possibly can back to give you as much offensive juice and hopefully a little more balance to your offense. Obviously Omar and Hampton hopes to bring that. Yeah. And you know bring some fresh legs after missing some time like this. It seems like they definitely took their time and we still need to you know get official word that they’re going to open up the window. But the messaging pretty much throughout has been after the by-week since we heard the last update from Jim Harbaugh. But I do think that as far as him kind of saving this offense. Yeah. I I don’t necessarily see it. But what I do think kind of to your point is we did see that like he can be the engine of an offense and can give the Chargers something to your point in the passing game. I mean in the two games before his injury he combined for 294 yards of offense. I don’t need to remind you the Chargers had 135 total yards of offense in this last game that they played. So between running the ball and catching it out of the back field and the explosive ability, the ability to pick up the chunk plays they just have not been able to get without him. Yeah, it does make a big difference. But he also can’t save an offensive line that you know like PFF grades have to be taken with a grain of salt obviously. But when you see your team being compared to the rest of the teams on the same grading scale and you see the Chargers grade out as the worst run blocking offensive line or just team in the NFL, they’re at 41.6. The 30th ranked team, the third to worst team is 51.7. There’s a 10point gap between you and the third worst team. There’s only so much he can be able to do. I think it looks better with him. Uh, but he’s not a a he’s not a fix all, right? Because like this wasn’t just this last game. Like look at the Commanders game. Look at the Giants game. Like there’s been so many constipated offensive performances. Not even going back to last year. He can’t fix it by himself, but he does make you better. And I think as far as like the defense getting rest and stuff like in the first three drives of the second half, the Chargers possessed the ball for 2 minutes and 57 seconds, right? That’s insane. They did not give their defense any rest. No, it’s not an excuse though. I mean, the Chargers gave up two touchdowns after the only two four plus minute drives the Chargers had on Sunday and they gave up a touchdown and a huge drive right after halftime when they should have been plenty rested. So, I’m not going to buy too much into that because going into it, the Chargers led the league and still actually do in time of possession for their offense. So, let’s get to this next one here from John Eekens, who says, “No player on the active roster as an offensive lineman will be here next year or should be.” So, obviously, we’re taking out uh you know, Joall and Rashan Slater and everyone else, David, they can clean house. What do you think? I’m with it. Honestly, I’m 100% okay with it. I think if you have if we were to make one concession, uh I think I would be okay with potentially bringing back Zion Johnson. I think he’s been decent uh so far this year. I think he’s been the most consistent player on the offensive line, which is not saying much for the worst offensive line in the league, but I would be completely okay with completely remaking this entire offensive line outside of the tackles on the outside. I’m still a firm believer in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. I know he’s coming back from a serious injury, but if anybody can come back and be the same dude or close to it, it’s a monster like Rashawn Slater. And so I’m my money is on him to come back and be that guy. But they need a much better center and they need way better guard play from both of the guards. I I just I feel like it’s a situation where they have to inject some serious capital and resources into it. If you are wanting to claim to be a team that is built off of your offensive line, then I need to see an offensive line that can go out there and dominate like the Eagles offensive line did last year. Yeah. I mean, and and obviously that was, you know, an alltime offensive line for sure, but like I don’t even need that. Get me the 15th ranked offensive line in the league and watch this team be able to make a playoff run. like get me just at the bottom of the barrel. Like I mean honestly like even with Zion Johnson, he’s going to cost way too much to go get out in the open market just as a competent guard who used you know was a former first round pick because we know that carries into free agency as well. Yeah, he’s going to make 15 16 17 million. I’m not bringing him back for that. I mean, and like the thing is too is you only have Bradley Boseman and Mai Beckton as far as guys under contract outside of your tackles going into 2026. So like most of these guys are probably going to be gone just because their contracts are running out and probably don’t deserve to be brought back. And like in the case of Mai Beckton, he’s he’s been a huge disappointment. Like he just he can’t stay in. I I still think he’s their best option at guard when they have him. But like I mean man the last two games that he’s actually played 40 plus snaps which has been a rarity for him this season he’s given up five plus pressures like he was pretty good in this last game couldn’t finish the game he’s pretty good the last game he had to leave with injury you know less than 10 snaps. Yeah I think it’s four of the six games he’s left early or played less than 100% of the snaps. It’s yeah I mean I think he’s played more than six but yeah I mean that that percentage-wise is is definitely sounding right to me. I mean, I there’s definitely more games that he started than, you know, like and there’s more games that he hasn’t finished than games that he has finished so far this season. So, like it’s just it hasn’t been great. Uh, you know, and the metrics hate him as well. They have him as the third worst guard in the league uh of anyone with 400 snaps. So again, I, you know, I don’t put too much fa stock into Pro Football Focus grades, just straight up grades like that, but like it’s just you get tired of seeing all of the Chargers players like near or at the very very bottom of these list because that’s not a fluke. Uh you’re not playing great and they’re grading you as the worst player at your position. If everybody’s saying the same thing, then it’s probably true. Well, and just trust your eyes. I mean, I think the hard thing is just when everyone is this bad, it’s like hard to kind of, you know, split up the blame. Uh because there there kind of failures all around. But let’s get to this one quickly from Leo Martinez. We’ll do a quick buyer sell here. David buyer sell. Greg Roman, Mike Develin, and Bradley Boseman will all be back on the Chargers next season. Absolutely not. I I think at least two of two of the three of those guys are gone. And I think my money is on Mike Develin and Bradley Boseman. I think both those guys are gone. And I still think just given the relationship between Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman that there is a chance that he will return for another season. Yeah, I mean there’s not I’ll say this right now, there’s a nonzero% chance that all three of these guys are back. I mean Bradley Boseman is under contract even if they don’t think he’s a starting center. You know that, you know, that’s not a guarantee they’re going to cut him. Uh you know, Mike Develin, it’s been awful. Greg Roman, you already heard my thoughts on that. go and get the recently relieved Bill Callahan to be your offensive line coach. You can’t spend two years seeing this trio underperform and decide to run it back again in 2026. It just makes no sense. But the Chargers have their work cut out for them down the stretch. Coming up, we’re going to be getting into how bad it could get potentially. Could the Chargers realistically go one and five in their last six games? All that more in today’s Locked on Chargers podcast. Today’s show is brought to you by our friends over there at Pelaton. Look folks, it’s time to break through the busiest time of the year with a brand new Pelaton cross trainining tread plus that’s powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s Pelaton’s most elevated technology and equipment yet that gives you real-time guidance and it gives you endless ways to move whether you want to work out by yourself or if you want to work out with your favorite instructor like my personal favorite, Alex Tousant. He always gets me fired up to tackle the day. And the thing I like about Pelaton, it helps me achieve more in less times. They have features that help you plan, stay motivated, track your progress, and Pelaton IQ also provides personalized workout plans and recommendations. That’s something that I use right now during the busiest time of the year covering the NFL. They plan my workouts for me based on my mood, my vibe, and also my favorite instructors. So, make sure you check it out and use it because it also helps you correct your form in real time and it maximizes your reps. It counts your reps so that you can do it smarter, safer, and more efficient. Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Pelaton crossraining tread plus at onepliton.com. David, so much to get into on this buyer Tuesday. A lot of storylines and overreactions we haven’t got to touch on today. And I mean, we probably will continue this conversation uh going into shows later on this week just because there’s a lot of big topics this team has to tackle right now. But thank you guys as always for making us your first listen. Uh if you need a second listen, make sure to check out Lock NFL if you want to see everything that’s going on around the league. There’s two shows a day with Tony Wiggins and officer Tyler Roland who give you two very different perspectives on the league on YouTube, wherever you get your podcast from. Let’s get to this one. David, we have a voicemail here that when I heard it seemed crazy, then I looked at the schedule and I’m like, man, I I really hope this isn’t the way things go down. Hey guys, uh Brian here, longtime listener, love the podcast. After yesterday’s game, my buy or sell is that with six games remaining, the Chargers, if nothing changes, would be lucky to go one and five to end the season. Uh appreciate you guys. Thanks for everything you do, man. And I mean, I I don’t know if I’d say they’d be lucky to go one and five down the stretch of the season, but I think the point here, David, is like I kind of opened up the show with, there’s six games left and with the way this team is playing coming off of that game, it’s getting really, really hard to kind of see the guaranteed wins or, you know, games you feel really good about going down the stretch. Yeah, they show up like they showed up against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then yeah, they will be lucky to win one of their remaining six games because that team right there can’t compete with anybody. Like they they did nothing, right? Like that that team absolutely needs to die and never show up again. Like they they need to to bring back the physical type of football team that we saw earlier in the season. And I think, yeah, you look at it, obviously the Raiders, Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos, all those teams have, you know, different reasons why they, you know, are cause for concern. I think that there’s several tough games there in there. Even with the Cowboys record not looking as good as you might think, that offense is for real. The Texans, same thing. That defense is deadly. Still is. And it’s going to be a challenge. We saw that last year. They’re still that good. The Eagles just a really good football team all around. And the Chiefs are always going to be a tough matchup. They know you very very well and the Broncos number one defense in the league. Uh really, really good pass rush and a quarterback who I guess is doing just enough to be able to win games for them. So, uh yeah, no real easy games besides, you know, the Raiders and, you know, even then you can’t uh o overlook them because they’re going to show up for an AFC West opponent. But yeah, there’s going to be some really tough games in there and the Chargers have to make sure that they are locked in and ready to go every single week. If not, then we’re going to see more Jacksonville Jaguars games than we want to. I I think that’s why the last game was so maddening is that if you win that game, you get to eight and three on the season and you’re looking for two wins out of that final six stretch. And that feels a lot easier than trying to find three, which is probably what’s going to be the magic number for you. And I just think that yeah, like there’s no excuse to lose to the Raiders. The Chargers have shown they can beat teams like the Raiders so far this year. I still expect them to win that game and I’ll pick them to win in that game. After that, man, like every team you brought up has a good argument to why they could take the Chargers down given that we don’t know which team is going to show up week to week. like it, you know, if if you’re you’re playing against the Chiefs, the the Eagles, or the Broncos tomorrow, you’re not picking the Chargers to win those games. I I don’t know if you could pick the Texans uh or or even over the Cowboys and feel really good about it because the Chargers have struggled with really good defenses and they’ve struggled with really good offenses. Yeah. Five out of the last six teams that you’re going to play are going to bring one of those to the table. That’s just the facts, right? So, like I can’t tell you how disappointing it would be if the Chargers win on a 1 and6 stretch because that’s what it would be obviously coming off a loss to end this season and still feel like they’re going in the right direction. But like man, like I said, like I don’t think they’re going to lose all of those games that are going to be tough games for them. Uh but it’s hard to say they’re going to win more than half or even guarantee they’re going to win half. But let’s get to this one here from Jackson who says, “Overreaction for buyers. The best case scenario for this Chargers team is a per first round playoff exit. With a brutal backstretch of their schedule and the lack of consistency this roster has shown, they don’t have what it takes to win in the playoffs. David Byersell. Yeah, I mean I don’t it’s not the best case scenario obviously. Um and and also like you all you want to do everything you can to get to the playoffs because once you get there anything can happen. You just need a ticket to the dance and then after that it’s one v one. You win, you go you move on, you lose, you go home, right? So yeah, I think obviously looking at the the team’s deficiencies, the their inability to stop the run and really, you know, really big issues, you know, being consistent on offense, that stuff gets exploited in the playoffs. So if they don’t figure it out in this last, you know, six game stretch, seven game stretch, then this is a team that you can’t feel confident that they’re going to be able to win a playoff game. like they have to at least improve upon these issues before you can feel at all that like they would be able to pick up one of those wins. Yeah. I mean, I’m buying this as far as like I think what he’s saying here is the best realistic scenario for this team. Like obviously anyone can have a 2011 Giants run where you back into the playoffs and you go win the Super Bowl. Sure, that could happen once in a blue moon. What usually happens is the best teams go and win the Super Bowl and the teams that are the best built go and play and win in the Super Bowl, right? That’s what it is. If we’re basing it off that, yeah, it does feel like for this roster, even if they find a way to kind of get themselves into the playoffs at this point, that would be the kind of crowning achievement for this season because I don’t see like what what playoff team do you feel good they’re going to beat? Like I I don’t think there’s a team in there right now outside of the Steelers, right, who probably won’t even still hold that division by the end of things that you feel you could actually say, “Hey, the Chargers are going to beat that team.” Like the Patriots, the Broncos, the Chiefs. Maybe if you didn’t see that last stinker performance and know they have that in them, maybe you could maybe make that argument. But like, no, it does feel like that is kind of what the ceiling for this team is with their current deficiencies. So, I think that’s kind of where it’s at right now. But it does lead to this fear from Dur the Nerd saying buy or sell. The Chargers would be better off missing the playoffs than going and losing in the first round. This one I’m still going to stick with my stance of just you know it’s better to make the playoffs and see what can happen. But like obviously in this scenario he’s saying if you know you’re going to lose in the first round of the playoffs is a better off missing the playoffs. David, what do you think? No. Even then absolutely not. There are only a handful of teams that earn the right to be able to make it to the playoffs. I I don’t care if I know I’m going to lose when I get there or not. That means that I did enough during the regular season to earn my right to get there. So, that’s my stance. Yeah. I mean, I Yeah, I I’ve said that before that I think that it’s it’s more important to kind of build a foundation and a culture with the Chargers that, you know, they haven’t made the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2010. Yeah, like you could end that this year just by making the playoffs even if you lose. And I think that you know even like as far as what they’re able to do. Yeah. I mean it would suck to go there and lose obviously but to be able to break that stretch and to feel like okay now we have a coach and a quarterback combination that every year even if we lose our two kind of you know all protalented tackles can still take that team to a playoff spot. I I think that means something. And I think just the worst part about something like this is it just continues the narrative that Justin Herbert can’t win a playoff game. Yeah. Uh and like in this messed up way, it’s almost better to not make the playoffs. And from a narrative perspective, it’s better to not make the playoffs like a Joe Burrow did last year than make it and lose, right? That like if LeBron gets to six rings, right? He’s still never going to be Jordan because Jordan was six and0, right? LeBron making it to the finals more would be a detriment to his argument as the greatest of all time even though he won the same amount. All the times that Michael Jordan got bounced out in the Eastern Conference Finals, it doesn’t matter, right? Everyone cares about the 6 and0 once he got there. And I think that is kind of a weird way that this kind of thing works just as far as the narrative goes with Justin Herbert. But like you shouldn’t if you’re the Chargers care about that anyways. Like obviously you should be trying to break that. But like I think the really only good argument uh for this besides just obviously getting a better draft pick sure is better. But I mean at that point if you’re talking about you’re losing anyways you’re talking about maybe a couple of spots you know hit or miss basically like that you’re going to have better in the draft. The bigger thing is missing the playoffs might inspire changes that don’t happen if you make the playoffs. This is true. Could making the playoffs allow the Chargers to talk themselves in to guys that maybe would not be with the team in 2026, players, personnel, coaching staff, whoever, because they said, “Hey, but Greg Roman made the playoffs without Joel and Rashawn Slater, right?” It’s the same thing. Are you winning in spite of these people or are you winning because of them? It’s my argument when we said, you know, talked about the interior offensive line going into the season. It’s my argument now like if this organization can’t parse like, hey, we barely got to the playoffs, but our offense is holding us back and we can’t reach our potential there. Do we still run it back with these same guys even though, you know, it’s still the same issue whether you make the playoffs or you miss the playoffs by one game? That’s the best argument I could see for not making the playoffs. Good point, though. And at the same time, you know, Justin having to learn a new offense, all of those things. Like yeah, they like there’s a lot that goes into it obviously, but like that would be the only thing that scares me is the Chargers talking themselves into fool’s gold if they make the playoffs and then lose just because they found a way to make it. But that’s going to wrap things up on today’s show. The good news is we have a great show for you guys playing tomorrow getting into our by-week playbook. What the Chargers must improve during their buy because a lot of the conversation today is based on what the game was we just saw. on the Chargers, you know, down this stretch will be able to prove us wrong, will be able to make me shut my mouth about how good this team could be cuz they’re going to play some good games, good teams down the stretch where they could make me eat my words and I’m looking forward to them trying to do that. But I think what this by week has to bring is find your offensive line combination and roll with it. Find the best of the guys you have. Find a way to stop the run. If you’re Jesse Mentor’s defense, try something else out. This is the only chance in season you have to make major changes like the ones we need to see from this team. And tomorrow we’re getting into all that. So to make sure you don’t miss it, go subscribe or follow for free on the Lockdown Chargers YouTube channel and listen wherever you get your podcast from as well as finding the show every day on all of our social media where you can hit us up for fan shows like this. Lockdown on Twitter, Lockdown Chargers on Instagram and our Lockdown Chargers Facebook page. Thank you guys as always, especially when things are down and tough for making us your first listen. And you know, even when it feels sometimes easier to not listen to Charger content, we know how much you guys enjoy us by you being here to vent with us. So, we’ll back here tomorrow with our by-week playbook. But until then, guys, take it easy and go Bolts.

Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman faces mounting pressure after a disastrous 135-yard performance against Jacksonville. Should the Chargers move on from Roman’s struggling system that ranks near the bottom of the NFL in several crucial offensive categories?

Daniel Wade and David Droegemeier break down whether Roman deserves the hot seat, evaluate GM Joe Hortiz’s mixed track record of excellent drafting but poor free agency decisions, and analyze the offensive line crisis that has the team grading dead last in run blocking. The discussion covers rookie Omarion Hampton’s potential impact upon return, whether the entire interior offensive line needs replacement, and how a brutal remaining schedule (Eagles, Chiefs, Texans, Broncos) threatens the Chargers’ playoff hopes. With Justin Herbert taking constant punishment behind the league’s worst blocking unit, can Los Angeles salvage their season?

Tune in for critical analysis of the Chargers’ offensive struggles and what changes must happen to unlock this team’s championship potential.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOChargers?sid=YouTube

Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.

PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)