March 23, 2023

DCTRS

Damascus Center for Theoretical and Civil Rights Studies

Chargers beat Chiefs, but will Anthony Lynn keep his job?

The Chargers finished a disappointing regular season Sunday with a 38-21 victory at Kansas City.

Now comes an intriguing offseason.

Coach Anthony Lynn is scheduled to meet with management Monday about his job status. He has one year remaining on his contract, but there is growing speculation that he will be fired.

Entering Sunday, team ownership had issued no public endorsement of Lynn or general manager Tom Telesco, who just finished his eighth season on the job.

Lynn, who turned 52 last month, is 33-31 (1-1 in the playoffs) in four seasons with the Chargers, who gave him his first full-time head coaching job. He was the interim in Buffalo for one game at the end of the 2016 season.

During his tenure, Telesco’s teams are 60-68 in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs.

The Chargers have made the postseason only twice over the past 11 years.

They finished on a four-game winning streak to reach 7-9 after being 2-7 at one point.

The game Sunday had no impact on the standings — the Chiefs already had clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC — so several players on both sides sat out.

The most notable developments involved Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert and his assault on the record books.

He completed 22 of 31 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn watches from the sideline during a 38-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Among other things, Herbert set an NFL rookie record for completions in a season.

He also became the youngest player — 22 years, 299 days — to reach 30 career touchdown passes.

This was Herbert’s 10th game with at least two touchdown tosses, another NFL rookie record.

With a one-yard run late in the first half, he scored his fifth rushing touchdown, a franchise single-season mark for a quarterback.

The Chargers lost running back Austin Ekeler because of a concussion in the first half. Right guard Trai Turner left the game with a chest injury earlier in the first half and did not return.