The Chargers are going with Anthony Lynn as their head coach, and that should help Melvin Gordon around the goal line. Too often under Mike McCoy, that team tended to get pass happy around the end zone.
In all four of McCoy’s seasons, in fact, the Chargers finished with at least 30 TD passes, but in none of those seasons did they run for more than 10 touchdowns. So over the last 4 years, that team scored only 19 percent of its touchdowns on running plays, by far the lowest in the league.
Typical teams score an average of about 33 percent of their touchdowns on the ground. If that ratio had held in San Diego, the offense would have scored about 21 more rushing touchdowns over the last four years.
| PERCENT RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS SINCE 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pass | Run | Tot | Pct |
| Buffalo | 79 | 70 | 149 | 47.0% |
| Minnesota | 69 | 62 | 132 | 47.0% |
| Kansas City | 81 | 69 | 151 | 45.7% |
| Los Angeles | 67 | 46 | 113 | 40.7% |
| Philadelphia | 98 | 66 | 164 | 40.2% |
| Cincinnati | 102 | 68 | 170 | 40.0% |
| San Francisco | 78 | 50 | 128 | 39.1% |
| Washington | 93 | 55 | 148 | 37.2% |
| Carolina | 103 | 59 | 163 | 36.2% |
| NY Jets | 78 | 44 | 123 | 35.8% |
| Seattle | 104 | 57 | 161 | 35.4% |
| Dallas | 111 | 60 | 171 | 35.1% |
| Cleveland | 73 | 39 | 112 | 34.8% |
| New England | 127 | 65 | 192 | 33.9% |
| Arizona | 108 | 54 | 162 | 33.3% |
| Tennessee | 96 | 48 | 144 | 33.3% |
| Atlanta | 113 | 55 | 169 | 32.5% |
| Baltimore | 87 | 41 | 128 | 32.0% |
| Miami | 102 | 45 | 147 | 30.6% |
| Oakland | 102 | 44 | 146 | 30.1% |
| Chicago | 102 | 44 | 146 | 30.1% |
| New Orleans | 142 | 59 | 201 | 29.4% |
| Denver | 134 | 55 | 189 | 29.1% |
| Houston | 85 | 34 | 119 | 28.6% |
| Pittsburgh | 120 | 48 | 168 | 28.6% |
| Detroit | 108 | 42 | 150 | 28.0% |
| Green Bay | 134 | 50 | 186 | 26.9% |
| Tampa Bay | 94 | 33 | 127 | 26.0% |
| Indianapolis | 123 | 43 | 166 | 25.9% |
| Jacksonville | 90 | 29 | 119 | 24.4% |
| NY Giants | 110 | 35 | 145 | 24.1% |
| San Diego | 126 | 29 | 155 | 18.7% |
Anthony Lynn, meanwhile, ran a run-dominated offense in Buffalo last year, with that offense scored 12 more touchdowns rushing (29) than passing (17).
Not that Lynn will turn the Chargers into a West-Coast version of the Bills. The two rosters are wired differently. Most notably, Buffalo has mobile Tyrod Taylor, while Los Angeles’ newest team has Philip Rivers, who’s an older pocket passer. But the expectation here is that Chargers will run more often and more effectively this year, particularly near the goal-line.
—Ian Allan