Los Angeles Chargers: A season full of promise is starting to turn sour

The Los Angeles Chargers were set up for great things in 2019, and while they can still succeed, so far the year has been a disaster for the team.

The Los Angeles Chargers had the joint-best record in the AFC last season and looked to build on that heading into the 2019 season. With the experience of winning a playoff game and getting humbled by the New England Patriots, the Chargers appeared to be a good pick to win it all in 2019.

The team is young, talented and does not have any massive holes on the roster. The one area for improvement is the offensive line but they succeeded last year with one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Anything seemed to be an improvement that would lead to more wins.

And while it is always bad to get your expectations too high for your favorite sports team, the 2019 team seemed to present the best chance to win a Super Bowl since the 14-2 team in 2006. Even the loss of Tyrell Williams didn’t derail those thoughts.

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That level of success certainly still is obtainable, however, a year that seemed to be full of promise has been nothing but negative thus far. The 2019 Los Angeles Chargers are still very talented, but man, do they feel unlucky.

First of all, the biggest storyline surrounding the team is that Melvin Gordon is holding out for a new contract. While Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson certainly are talented, Gordon is someone who takes the offense to an entirely new level.

Fans should be hopeful that the two sides reach an agreement. Gordon likely has to compromise some, as that is the nature of the running back position, but he is an elite running back and the Chargers have the room to pay him.

Setting some of the running lanes for Gordon was going to be left tackle Russell Okung, who also is responsible for protecting Philip Rivers‘ blindside. Okung suffered a Pulmonary Embolism — a blood clot in the lungs — and will likely miss a portion of the regular season as he recovers.

Okung’s health is more important as his life is far more important than football and the last thing he should do is rush himself just to help the team win a game. I understand being a team player, but it is not worth any sort of risk when you are dealing with this kind of injury.

That is obviously going to leave a hole in the offensive line that is going to make it tough for Rivers, especially considering the Chargers play two playoff teams in the first four games.

Star wideout Keenan Allen is dealing with an injury as well. Allen injured his ankle and is going to miss the rest of the preseason. While it appears the team is just being precautious, this could still lead to a slow start for Allen and should not be ignored as something that can re-occur.

Finally, the biggest blow of the preseason is Derwin James. It was reported on Friday that James suffered a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. James’ current status is that he is out indefinitely with head coach Anthony Lynn even leaving the door open that James might not play in 2019.

There is no current timetable for James to return, however, according to Jonathan Cluett, MD, of VeryWellHealth.com, a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal is the “hardest to heal and the most likely to require surgery.”

The “typical” time to recover from a stress fracture is around three months. However, this is obviously a different situation as James is a professional athlete that is going to be on his feet more often. Even if it takes just three months from today he would still miss six games.

I think it is a safe estimate to say that he will miss at least half the season. If everything goes right then maybe he can come back before November, but I certainly wouldn’t expect it. Of course, I also wouldn’t expect him to come back at all.

So far the Los Angeles Chargers are without their elite Pro Bowl running back, the most important piece of their offensive line, a Pro Bowl wide receiver that is even more important without Tyrell Williams and an All-Pro safety who was already making the case to be the best safety in the league after one season.

Next. The complete picture that Melvin Gordon is missing. dark

This feeling feels all-too-familiar for fans of the Los Angeles Chargers. Every time there is something good, something bad seems to happen. But hey, they are still a very talented team and perhaps now they can take on the “team of destiny” moniker.

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