Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith throws against the Detroit Lions on Oct. 3.
(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
Before holding the offensively challenged Broncos to 16, the Chargers were the third-worst team in points allowed. Since Week 3, Seattle leads the league at 30.5 points per game. The Seahawks are quarterbacked by Geno Smith, who served as Philip Rivers’ backup in 2018. Smith has completed 73.4% of his attempts, tops in the NFL, with just two interceptions. That’s a little discouraging to a Chargers’ defense trying to emphasize taking away the ball. One key to watch is the play of J.C. Jackson, the Chargers’ big-ticket cornerback who was benched at halftime in Week 6. Jackson will remain in the starting lineup, Staley said, but Jackson has admitted his confidence is shaken. His success in New England came playing man-to-man. He has struggled mightily when the Chargers have asked him to play zone. “We’re going to try to do as much as we can to simplify and do the things that made him successful over there,” defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill said. “I think that the meeting time that he’s getting with [secondary] coach [Derrick] Ansley in the morning, staying later, we’re hoping that we see those things translate on to the football field. It doesn’t happen as soon as a guy comes into the building all of the time.”
