Can the Chargers figure out how to navigate the second half?

LOS ANGELES – The script was the same for the Los Angeles Chargers this season.

LA appears to be dominant early in games: the offense moves with ease and the defense makes stops. Take the Chargers’ last game against the Ravens, for example. The Chargers took a 10-0 lead, quarterback Justin Herbert ran through SoFi Stadium with the football roaring after a touchdown celebration and the defense kept the league’s best offense in check.

The Chargers scored points on three of their five first-half drives and entered halftime trailing 14-13. It was an encouraging start.

Then, in the second half, the Chargers’ offense disappeared, a shutdown that has become routine. The Chargers were down 16-3 in the second half of Monday’s loss to the Ravens before a rushing touchdown by running back Gus Edwards in garbage time made the game look closer than it actually was, 30-23.

“It’s an unfortunate ending,” Herbert said. “We wanted to get more points, but we didn’t manage to do that. You have to look back to take advantage of those opportunities in the red zone and make sure we convert on third down.”

In many ways, the second half against the Ravens was one the Chargers had played all season. They were able to overcome these difficulties during their four-game winning streak against weaker opponents, but it didn’t work against Baltimore.

Through the second half of this season, the Chargers rank 31st in yards per game (134.4), 30th in points per game (8.4) and opponent yards per game (199.4), and 28th. Ranked in time of possession (13:48).

It’s a far cry from how dominant they were in the first half of this season. The Lions (+121) are the only team with a better point differential in the first half. The Chargers rank in the top five in point differential (+88), opponent points per game (5.7), opponent yards per game (124.3) and time of possession (16:45). They rank eighth in points per game and ninth in yards per game.

From Week 2 to Week 6, the Chargers did not score a touchdown in the second half. The five-game pointless streak was the Ravens’ longest streak since Weeks 14 through 18 of 2022, when Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman was Baltimore’s OC. Roman resigned after this season.

“I think there were some amazing halves of football and some that we would love to have back,” Roman said. “But the guys work really hard at it and it’s hard in the NFL … it’s just something we pursue.”

In Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Chargers experienced a similar second-half disappearance in front of a national audience. After taking a 24-6 lead in the first half, the Chargers were outscored 21-3 in the second half before the offense took the field with 45 seconds left. The offense fumbled on six of its eight drives in the second half and fumbled on another.

A late touchdown from running back JK Dobbins sealed the game and saved the Chargers from an embarrassing loss. But there were no rescuers against the Ravens. Dobbins left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter and receivers dropped a season-high four passes against the Ravens.

After the loss, Herbert — who entered the week with the NFL’s third-best QBR in the first half this season compared to 29th in the second half — said he disagreed with the idea that the Chargers were a poor second were quarterback. Half team.

“We showed we were capable of going out and scoring in the second half,” Herbert said. “It’s obviously a tough game and we would like to get more points. We just have to keep going and do everything we can. I thought we did a good job moving the ball.”

The Chargers have games where their second-half performance matched — or even exceeded — their first.

Against the Tennessee Titans, for example, they played perhaps their best game of the season, scoring two touchdowns in the second half in a dominant win. Or in Week 9 against the New Orleans Saints, when the Chargers scored 17 points in the second half of that win.

But these performances were anomalies. The Chargers have consistently been one of the NFL’s best teams in the first 30 minutes of games this season and one of the worst in the final 30 minutes.

As they look to return to the playoffs as true playoff contenders this season, their second half could be the catalyst that holds them back.br/)