Antonio Gates injury puts focus on Stevie Johnson this week

At 2-5, the San Diego Chargers aren’t in a good place right now, and the fan base has to be increasingly frustrated with the team’s disappointing displays this season. Philip Rivers has done all he can to carry this team as the NFL’s clear leader in passing yards, despite not having Antonio Gates for much of the season, but his average of about 350 passing yards per game just hasn’t been enough. The Chargers have failed to run the ball consistently this season, the offensive line has been ravaged by injuries, and just five teams have allowed more points per game than them.

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On the surface, the Chargers Week 8 game against the 1-6 Baltimore Ravens looks like a reprieve, but despite the Ravens own failings on pass defense, they aren’t a cake-walk one-win team. After all, they took the Arizona Cardinals- one of the NFL’s best teams- down to the wire on Monday Night Football, and they could upend a Chargers team that only boasts wins over the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns.

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Considering how bad the Ravens pass defense has been, this looks like a huge game for Rivers. However, it looks like there’s a strong chance he won’t have one of his favorite targets back in Gates, as the future Hall of Famer did not practice yesterday, as per the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tom Krasovic.

Gates, who has played in just two games this season due to a combination of suspension and injury, is dealing with an MCL sprain that should cost him multiple weeks. The Chargers are leaving open the chance that the 35-year-old star can suit up on Sunday for the 1:00 p.m. ET kick-off, but I get the feeling that it’s more likely for him to sit out another week and undergo an MRI, which could entail more bad news for a Chargers team that has been hit hard by the injury bug.

I think many people have glossed over just how big of an injury Gates’s is to the team, because even though Ladarius Green is more than capable of playing the tight end position at a starting-caliber level in this league, losing a player of Gates’s ability is massive. He’s so good that he’s averaged nine receptions per game when on the field this season, and he had 92 and 95 yards, respectively, in both of this games in Week 5 and Week 6, including two touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If Gates is indeed unable to play in Week 8, then the focus turns to Stevie Johnson. Why am I leaving off Green and No. 1 wide receiver Keenan Allen? Well, because we know they are going to have featured roles with Gates out in this pass-happy Chargers attack. Green is obviously the TE1 with Gates out, and Allen has been targeted a ridiculous 84 times this season.

So the player who would have to step up the most against the Ravens if Gates is unable to play is Johnson. The 29-year-old free agent signing has consistently chipped in as a member of the Chargers offense this season, but it’s worth noting that he hasn’t eclipsed 50 receiving yards in a game ever since putting up a 6/82/1 line in a Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions.

Last week, Johnson had his worst performance in a Chargers uniform, as he caused Rivers to throw an interception and caught just four of his eight targets in his first game back after missing multiple games with a hamstring injury.

Oct 12, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) runs after making a fourth quarter catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The Chargers have to hope that Johnson was merely shaking off the rust, because they need their No. 2 receiver to be more reliable this week. Based on how the Ravens have performed so far this season, we can expect them to have issues picking up Danny Woodhead on passing plays out of the backfield. They are also vulnerable against receivers who are not No. 1 guys, and Marvin Jones‘s 5/94/1 game against them was a classic example of that.

Since Gates doesn’t seem likely to suit up, Johnson will have to help make up for the lost production by playing at a higher level. The Ravens showed signs of life last week, and they could take advantage of the Chargers injuries on Sunday. San Diego has the better team, but they are only one win better than Baltimore and have also under-achieved this year. That needs to change, and I wonder if Johnson,who has a favorable matchup on tap, could be a catalyst for that, especially if his hamstring woes are well past him.

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