Chargers: Is It Just The Offensive Line?

It's been a good month since the San Diego Chargers ended a miserable season and since then they have "cleaned house" in regards to their coaching staff.  Most pundits and fans all agree that moves was long overdue...me included. Now is the next step for this franchise...is next year a "rebuilding" year or is it season that the Chargers, with a few personnel moves, could return to contention.  One point that many "knowledgeable" Charger fans continually vomit up is...Fix the oline, then everything else will come.  Well, there's where I am going to veer off of a bit...

Yes, the Chargers offensive line last year was horrible and does need some fresh faces.  But I also want to remind many of those same "knowledgeable" Charger fans that they were the very same people saying that signing Jared Gaither last season was a huge pickup and that would certainly solidify the line...forgetting that Jared Gaither has been a bum his entire career and proved to be such one all of last season.

No, in my opinion, the Chargers have more to look at than just the offensive line...but will stay on the offensive side for starters...let's start with Phillip Rivers, he needs to prove he is even worthy of being an NFL QB again and not the quarterback that over the past two seasons has the most turnovers. There were more than one game last season where the Chargers were in command of the game and all they needed to do is not turn the ball over to win and Rivers and Co. did just that.

Skill players, with the exception of Rosario and Gates, there isn't a back on the Chargers roster that did much of anything last season.  I know some fans have high hopes for Vincent Brown, but even that, at this point, is an unknown.  Mathews continues to disappoint with injuries and subpar play.  So many fans of Mathews continue to cling to hope that this guy can do something but the time might be just to let this guy go.  He doesn't break off any big runs and seems like he runs into traffic rather than away from it.  When you see a rookie like Doug Martin playing on a Tampa Bay  team reel off big runs in a losing cause I wonder why Mathews in three years has yet to be able too?  

The defense...I really didn't think the defensive line was all that bad, but overall the Chargers defense wasn't that good.  The linebackers are old and slow and the secondary is just bad.  Eric Weddle at safety is probably the only db worth retaining.  Some Charger fans would be quick to point out that the defense did "seem" too keep the team in games but you also need to remember that the Chargers' offense was likely going 3 and out on most of their possessions...so even if the Charger defense did make a stop or two, it was never when the game mattered or when it was meaningful.  The Charger defense is, as it almost always seems to be historically, decent until it really matters then it is really bad (see 4th & 29).  

Sadly, the only "improvement" I saw on the Chargers last season was their special teams...and it wasn't anything special...just not the epic failure it was in 2011.  Not sure if Novak is the man to be kicking...so that maybe a need as well.

This is the NFL and more than one team has been able rise up to contender status after having a fairly poor season the year before.  Of course with Peyton Manning bringing the Broncos back to life all the pressure (and media attention) is on the Broncos in the AFC West.  If the Chargers could at least become more disciplined and eliminate turnovers, they easily could become, at the very least, respectable...and that is something that could happen as soon as next season with the right people in the right places.