Frustrating Chargers Starter Makes Offseason Need Obvious in Loss to Texans

The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a disappointing loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs. After jumping out to an early 6-0 lead, the Chargers allowed 23 unanswered points until the fourth quarter, which sealed their fate.

The Chargers offense wasn't the most dynamic or explosive group in the league all season, but Justin Herbert was in control and never made any mistakes. He had an impressive three interceptions all year, helping the Bolts maintain a high floor offensively. He had more interceptions against Houston as he had in 17 games.

The wide receiver rotation was considered to be a weak link for Jim Harbaugh. That was made painfully obvious during the loss. Star rookie Ladd McConkey was the only Charger who was able to make an impact, putting up 188 yards and one touchdown. The rest of the WR corps had two catches for 14 yards.

One member of the WR rotation was notably disappointing. Quentin Johnston had four targets but didn't register a single catch. He had two massive drops and managed to run a terrible route short of the sticks on a 4th-and-2. He received a disastrous 39.0 offensive grade per PFF for the second-worst mark on the Bolts.

Chargers fans were under no illusion that they could have made a deep postseason run. They had a great defense but the offense left plenty to be desired all season. The brutal loss to the Texans made one thing clear: the Chargers need significant upgrades in their WR rotation.

Johnston can still be a good wide receiver in this league for a long time. Yet, the chances of him living up to his first-round selection are low. Next season, Johnston needs to be the WR3 on the depth chart with behind a higher-end, more reliable wideout.

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