Jim Alexander: So the Rams and Chargers will not cause all kinds of angst and heartburn next week in the Bay Area … although the Seattle Seahawks, another main rival of the host 49ers, will be playing for a championship a week from Sunday in Levi’s Stadium, and I’m sure the locals are thrilled about that.
But what should we expect from the Rams’ and Chargers’ offseasons? For a while during the season, both teams looked like they could make noise in the playoffs. The Chargers, of course, faltered first – failing to score a touchdown in their wild-card loss to New England, followed by the dismissal of offensive coordinator Greg Roman. The thorny problem remains: How do they take advantage of Justin Herbert’s presence? (The other thorny problem: How to overcome Chargering?)
The Rams at least got to the conference final, but I can’t help but think there might have been a different outcome if they’d taken care of their business in the final weeks and nailed down home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Then again, I’m not sure how many others came away from last Sunday’s loss in Seattle with this observation, but to me the better, more complete team won and will be playing in Santa Clara next week.
So, where to start with the offseason reshaping of these teams? I’ve got a couple of ideas, but Mirjam, I’m curious where you’d go with this.
Mirjam Swanson: The Rams were close – too close, too often, it turned out. As you mentioned, they backed into the playoffs with less-than-encouraging performances late in the year that were costly seeding wise but also in terms of how much I believed in them, if I’m being honest.
And then they almost lost to Carolina. And they almost lost to Chicago. And, finally, they almost won in Seattle. It was a fun run, but I’m not surprised their luck ran out. Their offense is crazy fun, of course, with Matthew Stafford playing catch with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and Sean McVay and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur installing a new lucky 13-personnel wrinkle. All that the Rams have to do on that side of the ball is keep Stafford aboard for another go – and hopefully an MVP nod helps nudge him in that direction.
Otherwise, their secondary was awfully suspect. Hard-working guys, for sure, doing a tough job, but the Rams allowed 335.7 passing yards per game, which is hardly elite. And then, of course, was the especially problematic special teams play. It was as if a game couldn’t go by without some special teams fiasco costing them. It was so bad McVay switched coordinators mid-season. So I don’t know if it’s a matter of changing personnel or coaching or waving around some sage, but those are a couple of issues that need fixing.
The Chargers need Justin Herbert to be his best when his best is needed. Their defense is spectacular. Their offense is going to get a makeover under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. They need to protect Herbert, naturally, keep him upright and in one piece for long enough that he won’t have to flinch every time he snaps a ball. But in the regular season, he can handle that pressure – real and psychological. In the playoffs so far, he hasn’t. The guy he is at practice and around his teammates leads them to believe in him wholeheartedly, or it sure seems, from how passionately they swear by him. But the playoffs are different. That’s the demarcation between great and talented vs. legendary and a champion.
What do you think, Jim, that our two NFL teams should be working on to stretch their seasons out further next year?
Jim: From the Rams’ standpoint – and honestly, I’ll always consider the Rams the best bet to get back to the Super Bowl, just because they’ve done it before and as a rule they don’t seem to have the same playoff yips as the Chargers traditionally have – Job One is to entice Stafford back for at least one more year. Yes, he’s going to be 38 in a little over a week, but he could and probably should be the league’s MVP, an honor the Professional Football Writers Association has already given him.
Stafford was noncommittal immediately following Sunday’s loss in Seattle, as you might expect. And Sean McVay responded to the postgame question about whether he expected Stafford to return by saying, “If he still wants to play. What the hell kind of a question is that?” A fair response. I don’t think McVay was being snippy as much as he was maybe unprepared for that question just yet.
Ah, the special teams issue. This is what McVay said postgame following the critical muffed punt by Xavier Smith, a result of Smith’s left leg buckling just before the punt reached him: “It’s tough, because X-man has been so reliable, and he bobbled the first one. We were lucky to get back on it. That (second) one, it was costly. I love him. He’s done a great job. And obviously Kyren (Williams) did a nice job being able to field it from that point on. That was a tough one where we get a great stop coming out of the second half. You feel like you’ll be able to get some good momentum. Then they score on the very first play after we turn it back over.”
How about this idea, and it’s not an original thought on my part: Vincent Bonsignore, the former Daily News beat writer now writing columns for our new competition, the California Post, suggested that the Rams bring back John Fassel as special teams coach. I agree 100%. Fassel is currently Tennessee’s special teams coordinator, and a few days ago the Titans had indicated that he’d be back in 2026. But there’s no salary cap for coaches, and if I’m McVay or GM Les Snead, I would lobby owner Stan Kroenke to pay whatever he needs to pay to bring Fassel back.
As for the Chargers? I’m sorry, but I can’t help but think that whatever they do, be it player personnel or assistants or coordinators, isn’t going to change anything. Maybe a new team psychologist? Honestly, I’ve been watching this franchise long enough, dating to the glory days – sort of – in San Diego, to just assume that when the Chargers reach the postseason, things are going to go awry.
Yes, there are personnel moves they can, should and will make. And it was obvious this past season that the injuries that decimated their offensive line early in the season made a big, big difference. I was impressed that Herbert had the season he had while running for his life every week. Beyond that … maybe they need to take a page from “Ted Lasso,” particularly the episode where each player throws an object representing his fears into a trash can and they burn it all, hoping to reverse a curse.
All that said, wouldn’t it be wild after all this hand-wringing if Super Bowl LXI, next February in Inglewood, featured … nah, I’m not going to write it.
Mirjam: Know what I’d love to see? A Lakers-Clippers playoff series.
Watching them square up last week – the Clippers pulled way ahead, the Lakers came almost all the way back, getting within two points on a patented Luka one-footed, fadeaway, 3-pointer that brought half the crowd to its feet, and then the home team recovered and slammed the door, but not after a little flexing and jawing between Jarred Vanderbilt and the entire Clippers bench – made me want it all over again.
I both can’t and very much can believe that it’s never happened. When the Lakers have been good, the Clippers have stunk. And when the Clippers were actually pretty good, the Lakers haven’t been there. And the years they were both supposed to be good … still no.
One of these years, it’s got to happen. I expect both teams will find themselves in the playoffs this season – the Clippers’ resurgence is incredible – but I doubt they’ll cross paths this time either. But still, when both teams are good, these showdowns are fun, they actually feel like they mean something to the teams, like they both have something to lose.
What do you make of where they stand a little more than halfway through this season, Jim?
Jim: All I know is that the night of the first Lakers-Clippers matchup at Intuit in December – which followed the same script, with the Clippers getting a big early lead, the Lakers taking a bite out of it but the Clippers holding them off in the end – Clippers coach Tyronn Lue got up and made that projection of going 35-20 to finish 41-41. None of us scoffed audibly, but I know I was thinking, “Yeah, right.”
Good thing I didn’t post my doubts on social media. I, too, might have been eating the tweet. Because somehow that night began the Clippers’ turnaround, a 16-3 run that has put them at 22-24 and in the play-in zone. And while it’s folly to take a segment of the regular season and suggest it will be representative of the postseason, what the Clippers have done in the past month has been awfully impressive.
Really, more impressive than the Lakers. I watch the Clippers and I see a team that has figured out its roles and is playing at peak efficiency. I watch the Lakers and I think that even with two of the best players in the world on their side and a supporting cast that should be awfully good, there’s still a piece or two missing. And with the trade deadline a week away, I don’t see a deal out there that would be worth giving up the draft choices they have as trade bait. Better to hold onto those until summertime, because I’m not sure that whatever’s out there and available will bring them any closer to Banner No. 18.
(Then again, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka shocked us last year. Could there be another February Surprise?)
When you mentioned a meeting in the playoffs I thought back to 2006, which was the last time I can remember that we were really close to a Lakers-Clippers series. The Lakers blew a 3-1 series lead to Phoenix in the first round and lost Game 7, 121-90, at Staples Center. Had they won, they would have faced the Clippers, who dusted off Denver in five games. (Instead, the Suns beat the Clippers in seven and then lost to Dallas in the conference final. And the Mavs lost the Finals in six to Miami, with a fellow named Pat Riley on the bench – having taken over for Stan Van Gundy in December – and a fellow named Shaquille O’Neal on the court for the Heat.)
Anyway … you have any trades worth suggesting for either L.A. franchise?
Mirjam: The Lakers know they need some more dependable shooting, additional athleticism, defensive help – stuff that some of the guys they’ve been linked to in reports happen to have.
They shouldn’t gut their team, but they definitely should be trying to add, say, a Donte DiVincenzo – who is shooting right at his career average from deep, 38.1%. Or someone like Sacramento’s Keon Ellis, a highly instinctual defender. De’Andre Hunter, a respected 3-and-D guy who’d fit beside Luka and LeBron, is also reportedly a trade target for the Lakers.
Those guys seem like more likely targets than Troy Murphy III and Herb Jones, also elite defenders with high price tags – for now. That might change the closer the deadline comes. We’ll see!
But, yes, there are certainly moves to be made to improve the roster, and they should try to make them. Why put off what you can do today for tomorrow? Why punt on a season of Luka’s prime? So what if Giannis Antetokounmpo is in play this offseason, if he is – he’s 31 and his game is based on athleticism and he’s isn’t going to get more athletic going forward, but less. I’m hoping we see the Lakers figure out some sensible moves – but we’ll see how it shakes out.
The Clippers really ought to find another home for Chris Paul. Otherwise, though, I actually believe Lue when he said he didn’t foresee moves. It’s not even that the team is clicking, it’s that they have it in mind to do major renovation in a couple seasons and that limits what sorts of contracts they’d bring in. I think they’re going to ride it out with what they have now – but you never know. They might trade half the team in the middle of the night between now and the Feb. 5 deadline. I don’t think so though.
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