San Diego Chargers: Future impact looms for Antonio Gates
It’s been over a month since the San Diego Chargers last won a game, as Mike McCoy‘s squad are currently riding a five-game losing streak as they head into their Week 10 bye. Philip Rivers has been one of the league’s most prolific passers with a 69.0% completion percentage, a whopping 337 passing yards per game, and a nice-looking 19:7 TD:INT ratio. This comes despite facing a copious amount of pressure week-in and week-out, missing star tight end Antonio Gates for large stretches of time, and surviving with one of the NFL’s five least effective rushing attacks in terms of yards per carry average (3.6).
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You could say that the bye couldn’t come at a better time for a Chargers team that is shockingly 2-7, all but forked, and in the cellar of an AFC West with the Oakland Raiders quick rise in Derek Carr‘s second season (and Jack Del Rio‘s first) rubbing salt in the wound.
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Further injury was added when Keenan Allen went down for the season with an injury, and the Chargers Monday Night Football loss to Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears made things even worse. Thrown in a potentially season-ending injury to Malcom Floyd and another injury to Jason Verrett, and Chargers fans have even more reason to be upset.
But, again, the bye week couldn’t come at a better time as the Chargers prepare to face the rival Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, and that statement holds particularly true for veteran tight end Gates.
He’s managed to play in just four games this season due to a combination of suspension and injury, and the U-T San Diego’s Michael Gehlken recently reported that Gates’s hasn’t fully recovered from his knee injury. He caught just six of 11 targets for 69 yards against the Bears, and he’ll have to face Eric Berry and a Chiefs defense that is elite at covering TEs.
With Allen done for the year with a lacerated kidney, no single pass-catcher is more important to the Chargers than Gates, who is now the second-most important player on offense behind Rivers. With all due respect to the reliable Stevie Johnson, the gifted Ladarius Green, and the competent Dontrelle Inman, Gates is Rivers’s best hope at picking up first downs and touchdowns going forward.
Therefore, Gates’s health is paramount going forward, which makes the placement of this bye week all the more critical. If Gates can get healthy, then we have every reason to believe that he can go on a tear, based on the way both he and Rivers have played this season. The Chargers running game and defense have been beyond atrocious this season, but the passing attack has been a bright spot with the fifth-most net yards per pass attempt in the NFL.
Before going down with an injury, Allen led the Chargers with a whopping 8.4 receptions per game and 90.6 receiving yards per game, but Gates has quietly averaged an impressive seven receptions per game and 78 receiving yards per game in his four appearances. He has yet to put up less than 50 receiving yards in an outing, even if he hasn’t scored a TD since putting up two in his regular season debut in Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
December 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) celebrates after the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi
The Chargers lone wins of the season came against the spiraling Detroit Lions and lowly Cleveland Browns, so it’s sad to say that they are playing as poorly as any team in the league this year despite Rivers’s best efforts.
Without Allen, everyone’s job just got a whole lot more difficult, but Gates’s contributions and expected health should not be ignored as important post-bye positives for a Chargers team that is desperately searching for bright spots beyond their QB.
Gates had over 800 receiving yards in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons with a combined 16 receiving touchdowns, and he’s actually averaging almost 20 more receiving yards per game this season than he did whilst recording 69 catches and 12 TDs last year.
It will be interesting to see just what kind of numbers he’s able to compile despite the missed time, because he is indeed the Chargers top option going forward.
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Expect huge production from him if he’s able to stay healthy, and the most critical stat from his performance in the team’s Week 9 MNF loss is 11.
That’s the number of targets he received, and it’s evidence of a voluminous role in a passing attack that has been second in the league in total attempts this season. He’s still as good as ever, and top-notch production from Gates will likely be a necessity if the Chargers are to have any hope of a turn-around.