The Chargers built off last weekend’s performance and beat the Giants on Sunday afternoon, 37-21.
Here are five quick takeaways from Los Angeles’ Week 14 win over New York:
Justin Herbert is not human
Herbert may be the best quarterback in the NFL right, and I’m not even kidding. Every week, he’s torching opposing defenses, but there’s always a throw or two that has jaws dropping. This week, it was on 3rd-and-long, on the run, off his back foot while being hit from behind. It was a straight dime right into the hands of Jalen Guyton for a 60-yard score. Later on, with his touchdown pass to Jared Cook, Herbert became the first player to have 30 touchdown passes in each of his first two seasons. He finished the game 23-of-31 passing for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Furthermore, he had an 8.6-yard average depth of target and two big-time throws, per Pro Football Focus.
No Keenan Allen, no problem
The Giants’ secondary is the team’s strong suit, but the Chargers had no issues with their receivers consistently getting open and making plays. Guyton led the group with three catches for 89 yards and the deep touchdown catch. Rookie Josh Palmer capitalized on his extensive playing time, finishing with five receptions for 66 yards and a score. Mike Williams caught all of his six targets for 61 yards. In total, Herbert connected with nine different targets throughout the afternoon.
Pounded the rock
The Giants entered the game ranked 31st in run defense DVOA and 25th in yards per game allowed on the ground, and the Chargers made sure to exploit it. Austin Ekeler led the pack with 12 carries for 67 yards, four rushing first downs and two explosive carries, per PFF. Justin Jackson turned nine carries in 35 yards (3.9 yards per carry). While not the most efficient, Joshua Kelley had a rush that went for 12 yards. As a whole, Los Angeles finished with 152 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry. A lot of credit also goes to the offensive line for generating plenty of push upfront and clearing holes for the ball carriers.
Solid secondary
The Chargers have been susceptible to the pass in prior weeks, but they changed the narrative against the Giants, holding Mike Glennon to 17-of-36 passing for 191 yards (4.6 yards per pass), two touchdowns, one that came in garbage time and an interception. This came with a thin secondary that was without Derwin James and Asante Samuel Jr. Michael Davis and Chris Harris Jr. were the standouts on the backend. Sticky in coverage, Davis and Harris finished with four and three passes defended, respectively. Harris allowed just one catch for 24 yards on five targets. Their efforts paid dividends on third-down situations, as well.
Punting problems
The Chargers have shown improvement on special teams. However, that was an exception for the punt unit on Sunday. In particular, it was Ty Long who had his fair share of struggles. Long averaged just 26 yards per punt.