10
Loading video...
By Madison Williams
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The Los Angeles Chargers remain as the only winless team left in the NFL this season as they head into their Week 10 matchup on "Monday Night Football" against the 4-5 Baltimore Ravens.
Could this finally be the matchup the Chargers could win this season?
The Ravens are without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley to injuries. The Ravens leaned on third-string rookie quarterback Joe Fagnano in Week 9, but then traded for Jacoby Brissett from the Arizona Cardinals last week in hopes of him being a more consistent starting quarterback option for the team.
Read More on NFL
Speaking with ESPN's Mina Kimes ahead of Monday night's primetime game, she thought that the Ravens made the right choice by acquiring Brissett. She originally thought the Chargers could get their first win over the Ravens until they made that trade.
“I think if Jacoby Brissett wasn’t playing, my answer to you would be I could definitely see the Chargers winning this game. Not to say that Brissett’s like a cure-all, but he’s a competent starting quarterback," Kimes said in an interview with Newsweek.
Brissett's style of play will be more beneficial for Baltimore's stars, like wide receiver Zay Flowers. With Jackson out the last two games, Flowers had zero catches then three catches for six yards.
“I think they’ll find ways to activate Zay Flowers in this game. Without Lamar it’s been hard to get him going," Kimes said.
...
Kimes used Next Gen Trends to discuss the ins and outs of Monday's matchup. This is a newly accessible tool for fans to use on NFL.com to track the trends in various statistical categories for their favorite teams.
Fans have focused on how poorly the Chargers' offense has been, but Kimes argued that Los Angeles' defense isn't ranking as low. If there's a silver lining to their rough 2026 season, then it's their defense.
“It’s really hard for me to be optimistic about L.A. in any capacity," Kimes said. "I will say this, this has been a little bit lost in how abysmal the season is. The defense hasn’t been horrible—19th in EPA [expected points added] per play. It’s the offense that’s 32nd.”
The thing the Chargers need to watch out for, though, come Monday night is the fact that the Ravens' defense is on a similar level.
“[The Ravens] have been similar to the Chargers defense, which is interesting because their head coach was the Chargers defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter," Kimes said.
For comparison, the Ravens rank 18th in defensive EPA, just one spot above the Chargers.
It might be a somewhat close matchup for the Chargers, but it'll be shocking if Los Angeles can pull out their first win of the season. They may end up being 0-9 instead.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines