Brandon Staley on finding rhythm in ground game: ‘It is a process’

With just one game left to play in the 2022 season, the Los Angeles Chargers seem to have found their offensive rhythm at the right time. Quarterback Justin Herbert has both of his top receivers, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, back in the starting lineup together, and is settling back into his rhythm with tight end Donald Parham Jr. after he returned from injury in Week 15.

But head coach Brandon Staley sees another aspect of his offensive attack as being crucial to the Chargers’ success: the running game. He was asked about how he and his coaching staff can find a “rhythm” on the ground heading into the playoffs in his media availability session on Monday and gave reporters an interesting answer.

“It is a process,” Staley explained. “When you have the moving parts on the line at tight end and at receiver. That lack of continuity does affect you. I think what we’ve been able to do is lock into — yeah, you have to scheme for the matchup and who you’re playing against, but we also know who our O-line is and we know who the tight end group is, and we know that we can really lean into this style of play.

“We had good mixture in our personnel groupings yesterday, which I thought really helped us. I think we had the right amount of inside runs at, what I would say, were more direct runs, power runs. Then, we had some good perimeter runs, as well, to balance what a defense would have to defend. We’re going to have to continue to do that down the stretch here.”

Given the production Staley has gotten from running back Austin Ekeler this season, especially relative to scoring output, it shouldn’t be surprising to fans when he turns to the ground game for an added dimension in his offensive game plan in the playoffs.