There’s plenty of blame to go around for the 2-8 San Diego Chargers, whether it’s a disappointing free agent signing like Orlando Franklin, a disappointing rookie like Melvin Gordon, or a former star who has turned into a shell of his former self like Brandon Flowers.
For a handful of glorious weeks before Jason Verrett suffered a torn labrum that robbed him of a stellar rookie season, the San Diego Chargers had one of the NFL’s best cornerback duos in the league. Free agent signing Brandon Flower seemed to give the Kansas City Chiefs the middle finger all season long, bouncing back from a disastrous 2013 season, partially because he was able to play on a defense running a scheme that fit him.
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In his first season in San Diego, Flowers re-established himself as one of the game’s best cornerbacks, providing lock-down coverage, three interceptions, 52 tackles, and ten passes defended. The Chargers could look to Flowers as a key veteran leader and true standout in the secondary, and, coming into the 2015 season, it seemed like this team would have one of the best defensive backfield in the NFL with Eric Weddle and Verrett also on their side.
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Instead of challenging for a playoff spot, the Chargers have been arguably the worst team in the NFL this season despite Philip Rivers‘s best efforts, and Jon Pagano’s defense has been at the heart of their struggles. Just one team allows more points per game than the Chargers, and just two teams allow more than their 7.5 net yards per pass attempt surrendered. Just as troubling, the Chargers have only five interceptions on the season, meaning that they continue to struggle with forcing offenses into errors, further magnifying their proneness to getting burned.
Verrett and surprise veteran free agent signing Patrick Robinson have legitimately stood out in coverage for the Chargers this season, but, as a whole, the pass defense has been an embarrassment. Melvin Ingram and Jerry Attaochu are underrated, young pass rushers, but they get absolutely no help from the defensive line. The inside linebackers can’t cover, and literally everyone other than Robinson, Verrett, and Weddle (the stars of this defense this season) have been liabilities in coverage.
I think it’s safe to say, based on the poor overall play of the Chargers pass defense in comparison to the play of the three DBs mentioned in the above paragraph, that Flowers has been one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks this season. It seems like he’s getting roasted every time he steps onto the field, and he hasn’t even been able to find success in the slot despite his frame. With no interceptions and just four passes defended forced on the season, he isn’t making plays either. In fact, he’s probably giving up more plays on missed tackles (eight, per Pro Football Focus) than anything else.
Flowers’s 2013 struggles turned out to be solely scheme-related, because he immediately bounced back in 2014 after leaving the Kansas City Chiefs for the Chargers. Even though he’s just 29, we’re back to wondering whether or not Flowers still has something left in the tank, and, well, the concerns go back to his size.
Bleacher Report’s Ian Wharton is one of the best film gurus in the business, and, back in October, he tweeted this nugget about why we should be worried that Flowers’s decline in play this season is “for real”.
Brandon Flowers was great in 2013, good in 2014, and average at best this year. Small CBs decline quickly because of speed reliance
— Ian Valentino (@NFLDraftStudy) October 13, 2015
The “average at best” no longer holds here, because, unfortunately, Flower’s play has deteriorated to the point where “abhorrent” is a more appropriate adjective. Kendall Reyes might always be the Chargers worst defensive player, but based on how easy it is to exploit matchups in the secondary, Flowers has to be considered the weakest link on this defense right now. Teams are figuring out how easy it is to pick on him.
It’s logical to think that Flower should be significantly better off in the slot than on the outside if he’s small and slowing down, since he won’t get burned as often on the inside as he would on the outside. The Chargers wisely decided to try this out against both the Chicago Bears and Chiefs, but Flowers hasn’t even been able to bounce back on the inside. In Week 10, the Bears moved the chains on him for easy yards, and, last week, he even had trouble with Jason Avant and Albert Wilson.
At this point, the Chargers have plenty of issues, but they seriously have to wonder if Flowers has anything left in the tank going forward. He isn’t even on the wrong side of 29, and yet he’s been burned so frequently that you have to think he’s on the hot seat. Anything is subject to change for a two-win San Diego team this upcoming offseason, and while Flowers is clearly not in danger of being cut due to his high cap charges, the Chargers might have to consider giving Robinson a big raise in order to keep him around.
December 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers (26) during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi
Basically, the Chargers have to figure out if Flowers is a slot corner, still an outside corner, or not even worth starting at this stage. His precipitous and unexpected 2015 decline have put the Chargers in a tricky spot due to his $13.75 million dead cap hit and the fact that he’s signed through 2018.
They can’t get rid of him, so they have to hope that he can bounce back or find a different niche on defense so that he can be productive for them.
The spotlight is on guys like Flowers for the remainder of the season, because with the Chargers so far out of contention, these are the issues that are of the most importance for the future.
These are the storylines that won’t get national headlines, but whether or not a former star corner is “done” or not is critical, especially for a team with a myriad of questions on the defensive side of the ball like San Diego.
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While Robinson and Verrett have both played at a high level this season, Robinson only has one year left on his deal and Verrett is a weekly injury risk; it would be huge for the Chargers to be able to depend on Flowers again.