Despite numerous injuries during the first half of this season, defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has managed to improve the Chargers' defense compared to last season. After taking over midway through the 2008 campaign Rivera managed to improve this unit's performance and gain some respectability. Still, the Chargers year end rankings were nothing to be proud of. They finished 25th in overall defense, 31st against the pass and 11th against the rush. Many assumed that Rivera could get more out of the defense when linebacker Shawne Merriman returned healthy and after Rivera had a chance to put his stamp on the defense during training camp. A lot of emphasis was also put on the fact that this team had to stay healthy to be good.

Now take into consideration what Rivera has had to deal with from the very first game. On a Monday night in Oakland all three starting defensive lineman got hurt. Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams was knocked out for the season and the Chargers had to acquire three new defensive lineman just to fill the holes. All four starting linebackers have had to play hurt. Two reserve linebackers have also been hurt and three different middle linebackers have started next to captain Stephen Cooper. The Chargers CUT their starting strong safety and demoted their nickel back. They now have a rookie playing strong safety and a former safety playing nickel.

All this sounds like a recipe for defensive disaster, but at the halfway point of the season for this club the Chargers have actually IMPROVED over last year and now are one of the best pass defenses in the league. How is this possible?

1. Somehow Rivera has made the adjustment to losing Williams and now uses a three man rotation at nose tackle to keep a fresh player in against the opposing center.

2. Outside linebackers Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman (the Shawne and Shaun show) have come alive in the past few weeks to start making plays and collecting sacks. Overall the defense has collected 15 sacks in the last three games, five in each one.

3. Key changes in the secondary have worked so far. Rookie Keith Ellison has been handed the strong safety spot and showed improvement over the released Clinton Hart. Steve Gregory has been moved to nickel and as well as covering well he has been used effectively in blitzing the QB.

4. The consistent play of Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromarte at cornerback has allowed Rivera to use man-to-man coverage and blitzes more effectively.

After their disasterous defensive game at Pittsburg some were calling for Rivera's head (including yours truly). The team still continues to struggle against the run. However, considering the injuries and changes, Rivera has done a great job with the talent he has to work with. It's hard to argue with these results;

Overall defensive ranking- 11th (309.8 yards per game) up from 25th last year (2008).

Pass defense ranking- 5th (179.6) up from 31st last year. Incredible, all things considered.

The rest of the way the Chargers face three dangerous quarterbacks, McNabb, Palmer and Romo. The other five don't figure to put up a lot of yardage against this team. The year end final stats for this defense could be impressive. However, if they find themselves in the playoffs in a situation where they have to stop the run, they could be in deep trouble. Rivera has yet to solve this problem, but he has eight more games to figure it out before the playoffs begin.