Chargers need a victory this weekend against the Saints

The Los Angeles Chargers return this Sunday, October 27, for their first home game at SoFi Stadium since September 29, when the Chargers played and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-10. They will take on the New Orleans Saints, who are 2-5 on the season and in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

The Chargers have struggled to score points this season, averaging 17.6 points per game, which places them tied at No. 26 in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. The scoring issue showed up in the Chargers most recent game, a 17-15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona on Monday Night.

The Chargers were unable to score a touchdown in the game against the Cardinals, settling for five Cameron Dicker field goals. The Cardinals got two offensive touchdowns and a game winning 32-yard field goal from Chad Ryland with no time on the clock to win the game.

The Charger offense did move the ball well through the air, despite injuries to the already thin receiving group. Quarterback Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards. Herbert completed passes to nine different receivers in the game. The Chargers could not get the running game going, with the Cardinals crowding the line of scrimmage and basically daring Herbert to throw deep.

Herbert did complete a 41-yard bomb to wide receiver Jalen Reagor to the three-yard line, but Reagor fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone for a touchback, costing the Chargers an opportunity to score an offensive touchdown. After a scoreless first quarter, Cameron Dicker tied a team record with 59-yard field goal early in the second quarter to give the Chargers an early 3-0 lead.

Dicker also connected on a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half to cut the Cardinals lead to 7-6 at halftime. In the second half Dicker connected on a field goal of 28 yards to give the Chargers a 9-7 lead at the end of three quarter but a 44-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kyler Murray gave the Cardinals a 14-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.

A 47-yard field goal by Dicker cut the lead to 14-12 and a 40-yard field goal with 1:54 remaining in the game gave the Chargers a 15-14 lead. But Murray drove the Cardinals down the field for the game-winning score, with the help of a personal foul penalty for unnecessary roughness on rookie defensive corner Cam Hart, a questionable call at best.

The good news for the Chargers is on the defensive side of the ball. The Chargers lead the NFL in defensive scoring average, allowing just 13.8 points per game. They are 7th in total defensive yardage allowed per game at 295.3 yards. Despite just 13 sacks in six games, the Chargers defense has done a good job of keeping games close. Now they just need the offense to get going.

The loss dropped the Chargers to 3-3 on the season and the win improved the Cardinals record to 3-4. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was clearly disappointed with the loss but was pleased with Herbert and the passing attack.

"I thought we moved the ball very effectively in the air," Harbaugh said. "I kept waiting for the running game to pop, but we were not able to. I thought both teams played well. It came down to a lot of details. Put the steel in the spine. That's what we need to do."

"We have to score points in the red zone," Herbert said. "We have to do a better job of executing those red zone plays. At the end of the day, it's about executing those tiny details. There's a lot to improve and we're looking forward to the challenge of this week."

That improvement should involve getting the running game going and finding help at wide receiver. The Chargers have been rumored to be interested in acquiring former Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams, who spent his first seven seasons with the Chargers, and is now with the Jets. Williams signed a one-year contract with the Jets for $10 million, but with the recent acquisition of Davante Adams from the Raiders, Williams has apparently become expendable.

The game with the Saints will start at 1:05 pm at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and will be televised locally on FOX. The Chargers need a win to get back over .500 and get back into the playoff race. The Chargers will play four of their next five games at home and over the next four weeks they will not play a team with a winning record. They need to win these games.