Chargers Defense Presents One Huge Challenge to the Buccaneers in Week 15
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of the best red zone offenses in football. And on Sunday, their unstoppable force is about to meet an immovable object.
The Buccaneers are the No. 4 team in the league in converting red zone appearances to touchdowns, punching the football into the end zone 68.63% of the time while inside the 20. Unfortunately, their Sunday opponent in the Los Angeles Chargers is No. 1 in the league in preventing those scoring opportunities, holding opponents to a touchdown in the red zone 41.94% of the time. The Chargers have an excellent defense otherwise, but they're very stingy in that particular area.
Coen attested to how well-coached the Chargers are under Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, and he stressed that they like to force opposing teams to play tough football.
"In the red area, not a lot of people have scored a ton of touchdowns. I think they have something like 13 touchdowns on the season being allowed in the red zone. That tells you not a lot of people are getting down there, and they’re not scoring a lot of touchdowns," Coen said. "They play with a little bit of shell safeties and try to make you run it, try to make you earn it. They’re not going to let you just throw it in there too easily."
Part of that is the players they have on their team. Outside linebackers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa make for a fearsome front, and safety Derwin James is having a career year and remains a staunch safety with both his coverage and tackling abilities.
"Their personnel helps. They’ve definitely got some football players in that box, especially when you put Derwin [James] down in there, that can be disruptive and they can be stingy against the run. Their two linebackers are fast-flowing, hard-hitting guys, and I have a ton of respect for their front as well," Coen said. "I’ve coached against them, I coached with Morgan Fox in [Los Angeles], and I have a ton of respect for him. They’ve just been disruptive. They’re very well-coached down there. They have a sense of urgency to not let touchdowns in there, and that’s where we’re going to have to be on point."
So how does Liam Coen plan to get his team into the end zone once they get into the red zone?
The key, in his eyes, is to wait and take their chances. And if they do that, everything should fall into place.
"We’ve got to be patient, we’ve got to understand that we’re in field goal range, take points when we have it, while also be aggressive to try to get the ball in the end zone to score some touchdowns."
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