San Diego Chargers: Can Malcom Floyd get back on track?
At this point, the 3-10 San Diego Chargers are merely playing for pride, and veteran wide receiver Malcom Floyd is one of those few, healthy players who can help give this team a boost in Week 15.
The San Diego Chargers Week 15 opponents, the Miami Dolphins, have been nearly as disappointing as Mike McCoy‘s team this season, so there’s still something for both teams to play for. Last week, the Dolphins lost a Monday Night Football battle to the New York Giants, frustratingly giving Lamar Miller too few opportunities. Meanwhile, the Chargers were edged out by the rival Kansas City Chiefs, scoring just three points with Malcom Floyd as their lone healthy receiver of merit.
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This week, Philip Rivers might have to play another game without both Stevie Johnson and Dontrelle Inman, though the latter of the two players did return to practice yesterday. Javontee Herndon showed off some talent by catching five passes against Kansas City (second on the team behind Antonio Gates), but the Chargers could be in a position where they have to count more on Floyd.
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Fed nine targets by Rivers against the Chiefs defense, Floyd committed a hard-to-swallow drop and only managed to haul in three of those passes for 56 yards. He continues to average a hefty amount of yards per reception as one of the league’s best deep threats, but Floyd’s catch rate is consequently low. What’s troubling is the fact that he hasn’t made a significant impact on the offense since tearing his labrum, as he caught just one pass in the two weeks prior to his three-catch performance vs. K.C.
On the bright side, Floyd figures to have a highly favorable matchup against the Dolphins secondary on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, and it goes beyond the fact that Miami was torn apart by Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 14, including an 84-yard touchdown in which they didn’t even bother covering the elite receiver.
Throughout the 2015 season, the Dolphins have struggled mightily to defend the pass, as shutdown corner Brent Grimes has seemingly declined (the Chargers have faced a somewhat similar situation, by the way, with veteran CB Brandon Flowers). Nobody else has stepped up in the secondary, and the impact of losing free safety Louis Delmas has been felt more profoundly than initially expected. Despite the best efforts of Reshad Jones, Ndamukong Suh, and Olivier Vernon, the Dolphins are 26th in points per game allowed and 27th in net yards per pass attempt allowed.
September 3, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers wide receiver Malcom Floyd (80) catches a football before a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi
Floyd, who hasn’t put up 100 yards in a game this season and is set to average less than 50 receiving yards per game for the first time since 2009, has an opportunity to take advantage.
Pending the gameday statuses of Inman and Johnson, Floyd could have another high-target game on the horizon, making him an intriguing bounce-back candidate vs. Miami.
Per Football Outsiders, the Dolphins are 32nd in the NFL against No. 1 receivers and 30th against No. 2 receivers in DVOA allowed, so as long as Floyd lines up as a starter on the outside, he has real upside.
Moreover, the Dolphins are FO’s worst team at defending the deep ball in terms of DVOA, and Floyd is among the league leaders in yards per reception (18.9); that’s enough to pique my interest.
If he can spring a big play or two against a struggling Dolphins secondary, then that could be the difference for a Chargers team that still has questions at wide receiver due to injuries.
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As we saw last week, one big play from Albert Wilson gave the Chiefs a “W”, and perhaps Floyd could have the same type of impact. Both of his 90-yard performances came before his shoulder injury, so we’ll see if he can have at least one more big-time game before the conclusion of the 2015 season.