Tag: Austin Ekeler

Targets, touches and touchdowns: Week 16

It is said the real NFL season doesn’t begin until after Thanksgiving.

And even if that’s a touch of hyperbole, that statement is at least true for the fantasy season. And, in actuality, with the fantasy postseason beginning in the majority of leagues in Week 14, the real fantasy season begins in Week 12, with the final two weeks of the stretch run deciding a host of playoff berths.

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It is said the real NFL season doesn’t begin until after Thanksgiving.

And even if that’s a touch of hyperbole, that statement is at least true for the fantasy season. And, in actuality, with the fantasy postseason beginning in the majority of leagues in Week 14, the real fantasy season begins in Week 12, with the final two weeks of the stretch run deciding a host of playoff berths.

That in mind, we’re going to look back over the past month – covering the final two weeks of the fantasy regular season and the first two playoff weekends – and highlight some of the unexpected top performers during that pivotal stretch who have helped shape fantasy 2019.

Here goes …

Ryan Tannehill, QB, Titans

Week 12-15 position rank: 3. 105.8 total fantasy points/26.5 per-game average

Tennessee’s new Titan continued his impressive run Sunday, throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 10 yards and another score in a tough, 24-21 AFC South showdown loss to the visiting Texans. It was Tannehill’s sixth 20-point fantasy outing in eight games since taking over from Marcus Mariota as the team’s starter in Week 7, and only Lamar Jackson and Jameis Winston have totaled more QB fantasy points since.

Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Bears

Week 12-15 position rank: 4. 104.2/26.1

Trubisky and the Chicago offense were a study in dysfunction for the first three quarters of the season, and the QB only had two 20-point fantasy outings in nine games heading into Week 11. But since, he’s posted four straight, including back-to-back three touchdown pass outings in Weeks 13 and 14. But it wasn’t all about Trubisky’s arm. After rushing for a total of only 58 yards and no scores in his first nine contests, he’s rushed for 114 and two TDs over the last four games as he tries to prove to the Bears’ brass that he deserves another year as the team’s starter.

Kyle Allen, QB, Panthers

Week 12-15 position rank: 8. 92.1/23.0

Lost in his 15 interceptions and three lost fumbles since Week 8, Allen has quietly followed the Winston Lite path to fantasy success with nine total touchdowns (to offset eight turnovers) over the last four games. But unlike his division-rival Winston, who’s put up league-winning numbers down the stretch along with his usual bushel of turnovers, Allen merely has played just well enough – particularly while trying to rally late in games – to keep a number of his two-quarterback fantasy teams afloat over the last month with four steady but unspectacular outings between 17.6 and 27.3 points.

Carson Wentz, QB, Eagles

Week 12-15 position rank: 9. 88.8/22.2

Wentz has bounced back nicely from an ugly midseason lull that featured only one 20-point fantasy outing between Weeks 5 and 11. Since then, though, the Philly QB has averaged 22.2 points, with eight TD passes and only one interception over his last three contests. What’s even more impressive is that Wentz has done so during a brutal, injury-filled span that has decimated his supporting cast, particularly a wide receiver corps that has seen its top three Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson and Nelson Agholor miss extended stretches, including each of the last two games.

Austin Ekeler, RB, Chargers

Week 12-15 position rank: 4. 61.1 (point-per-reception scoring)/20.4

It may seem like bad timing here with Ekeler coming off one of his worst fantasy days (13.1 PPR points) of the season in Sunday’s blowout loss to the visiting Vikings, but he was coming off his second-best game of the season (31.3 points) with 213 total yards and a TD on only 12 touches, lifting many of his teams to victory in the opening round of the fantasy playoffs. More importantly, for the longer-term fantasy view, he continues to outperform fellow Bolts back Melvin Gordon, averaging 17.4 points to Gordon’s 14.0 since the latter’s 2019 debut in Week 5, despite logging 52 fewer touches during that span.

Miles Sanders, RB, Eagles

Week 12-15 position rank: 5. 79.2/19.8

The rookie back picked a highly opportune time for his best game of the season, rolling up 35.2 fantasy points Sunday in D.C. with his first 100-yard rushing game (122 and a TD on 19 carries) and reeling in a season-high six catches for 50 additional yards and another score. He also became the Eagles’ first 100-yard rusher since LeGarrette Blount in Week 4 of the 2017 season – a streak of 41 games. And to think, a number of fantasy GMs would’ve rather started fellow Philly RB Boston Scott (13.5 points Sunday), following the latter’s surprise showing (24.8 points) a week ago. With Jordan Howard’s lingering injury absence, though, Sanders is Philly back you want as he’s totaled at least 15 touches in each of the last four games.

Kenyan Drake, RB, Cardinals

Week 12-15 position rank: 7. 56.4/18.8

Sure, 39.6 of Drake’s 56.4 fantasy points over the last month came in one amazing swoop Sunday when he paced the league on the strength of his 146 total yards and four TDs in a  beatdown of the Browns, but the lesson from the outing is more about what’s happening in the Arizona backfield overall. While Drake was notching a career in rushing yards, David Johnson touched the ball only three times – all rushing attempts – for six yards while Chase Edmonds didn’t get a touch. It’s increasingly looking like it’s unquestionably Drake’s backfield in Arizona – for the rest of 2019 and entering 2020.

Raheem Mostert, RB, 49ers

Week 12-15 position rank: 8. 74.9/18.7

As the newly crowned lead back of the league’s second most proficient rushing team, Mostert has found his way into the end zone in each of his last four games and has averaged 16 touches and 107.3 yards from scrimmage over his last three contests. There will always be other backs in the mix in a (Kyle) Shanahan offense, but the lead dog in a Shanny attack is always a cherished fantasy asset nonetheless.

A.J. Brown, WR, Titans

Week 12-15 position rank: 1. 90.0/22.5

A full 50.2 percent of the rookie’s total fantasy-point output has come over his last four games as he’s reeled in 20 of 29 targets for a league-most 447 yards and four TDs over that span. It’s taken the Titans until late in the season to finally fully realize what a weapon they have in the 6-1, 225-pound Brown, who was targeted a season-high 13 times in Sunday’s divisional showdown against the Texans – five more than other game this season – and it naturally resulted in a career-high eight receptions as well. Don’t look now, but the Titan(ic) Triplets – Tannehill, RB Derrick Henry and Brown – are as impressive as any in the league right now, especially when it comes to fantasy.

DeVante Parker, WR, Dolphins

Week 12-15 position rank: 8. 78.0/19.5

Only a day after signing a sparkling new four-year, $40 million contract extension, Parker accounted for the Dolphins’ only TDs in a 36-20 road loss to the Giants, catching four of seven targets for a team-high 72 yards. It was the second multi-TD catch outing in three weeks – sandwiched around a concussion-shortened Week 14 matchup against the Jets – and his seventh game with at least 15 fantasy points in his last 11 outings, including the concussion contest. The Dolphins said as much with the new contract, but we’ve finally arrived in Parker-Is-A-True-No. 1-WR territory.

Anthony Miller, WR, Bears

Week 12-15 position rank: 11. 76.7/19.2

Robert Woods and Saints stud Michael Thomas (barring a catch-less Monday night) have are the only wide receivers who have caught more passes since Week 12 than Miller, who’s snared 27 for 377 yards and a pair of TDs. It’s been quite the turnaround for the second-year wideout who entered Week 11 with only one double-digit fantasy-point game but has gone 5-for-5 in that category ever since, including a season-high 26.8 points Sunday with nine catches for 118 yards and a TD on 15 targets. Only Julio Jones (20) and George Kittle (17) were targeted more Sunday.

Breshad Perriman, WR, Buccaneers

Week 12-15 position rank: 14. 69.7/17.4

The Bucs’ top wide receivers (Mike Evans last week, Chris Godwin on Sunday) keep going down with “not-good” hamstring injuries, and Perriman keeps stepping up to fill the void, with four of his 11 targets and eight receptions going for TDs the last two weeks, including a trio on Sunday in Detroit. By comparison, Perriman only had seven career scoring receptions entering the game. A former washout as a 2015 first-round pick in Baltimore, Perriman looks as if he might’ve finally found a home in his third NFL stop, and he’ll likely get a chance to prove as much as the Bucs’ projected No. 1 wideout over the final two games.

Darius Slayton, WR, Giants

Week 12-15 position rank: 18. 64.6/16.2

The rookie fifth-round selection out of Auburn has transitioned from rookie QB Daniel Jones to veteran Eli Manning without as much as a hiccup, recording three TD grabs among his seven receptions over the last two weeks, giving him eight on the season. His scores have come by the pair more often than not as he has a trio of two-touchdown games (Weeks 8, 10 and 14), and the only wide receivers with more TD grabs on the season overall are Kenny Golladay (10), Godwin (nine) and Marvin Jones (nine). Not too shabby at all for an overlooked late-round pick who’s become the Giants’ most productive pass-catcher.

Tyler Higbee, TE, Rams

Week 12-15 position rank: 4. 72.4/18.1

There was another chapter penned Sunday in this true out-of-nowhere story as Higbee caught a career-high 12 passes for 111 yards on 14 targets in a loss at Dallas. This comes on the heels of his first career 100-yard receiving games (107 and 116 yards in Weeks 13 and 14). Higbee’s 354 receiving yards lead all tight ends over the last four weeks, and only Christian McCaffrey, with 35, has more receptions than Higbee’s 31 since Week 12. As for targets, only Zach Ertz has more among tight ends than Higbee’s 39 during that same span. To put things in further perfective, Higbee’s 31 receptions over the last four games are a full 10 more than he had, total, in his first 10 games this season or in any of his first three seasons from 2016-2018.

Jason Witten, TE, Cowboys

Week 12-15 position rank: 7. 42.0/10.5

This 37-year-old future Hall of Famer isn’t washed up yet. In the same game Higbee was stealing the tight end show, Witten had the most impressive catch, a highlight-worthy one-handed 19-yard scoring grab in the opening quarter that kick-started the Cowboys’ 44-21 romp. Witten has been targeted at least five times in six of his last seven games and has caught a TD pass in two of the last three weeks.

Mike Gesicki, TE, Dolphins

Week 12-15 position rank: 8. 41.0/10.3

Sure, we realize this emerging second-year tight end hasn’t been too great of late with five receptions for 53 yards on 13 targets over the last two games, but he’s been targeted at least six times in six of his last seven outings and had his first two career scoring receptions in Weeks 12 and 13. He’s the No. 2 pass-catching option on the league’s second-most pass-heaviest team (66.2 percent of all plays), and you can’t ask much more than that out of a fantasy tight end if you don’t roster any of the few elite options at the position.

EXTRA POINTS

  • So, of course, the week after it was pointed out here and elsewhere that Julio Jones has steadily underperformed for much of the season and was mired in the longest TD drought of his career (nine games), he comes up with best fantasy outing (38.4 points) in more than two seasons Sunday with 13 catches for 134 yards and two TDs on 20 targets against one of the league’s better defenses. His last TD catch was nothing short of a game-winning grab, coming on the final offensive play of the game and sending reverberations throughout the entire NFC playoff outlook as the Falcons stunned the host 49ers. However, it was only Jones’ third top-10 weekly wide receiver fantasy performance since Week 3.
  • The Bengals keep losing on their march toward the No. 1 overall draft pick next spring, but that hasn’t stopped RB Joe Mixon from writing one of the most compelling turnaround narratives of the season. On Sunday, despite a seemingly game script-unfriendly 34-13 loss to the Patriots, Mixon churned out the day’s second-best rushing performance (136 yards) on 25 carries and added three receptions for 20 more yards. Since the Bengals returned from their bye in Week 10, only McCaffrey, with 877, has churned out more yards from scrimmage than Mixon’s 745 and no running back is within 13 carries of Mixon’s league-high 130 rushing attempts during that span in which he ranks fourth at the position with 105.5 total fantasy points. Before the bye, Mixon was unstartable in the majority of leagues with only two fantasy outings of 12 points or more and four with 7.4 or fewer in his first eight games. But, over his last six contests, Mixon has scored fewer than 17 points only once.
  • Speaking of Mixon, he’s one of 10 running backs currently on pace to log 300 touches this season. Six (McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette, Ezekiel Elliott, Chris Carson, Nick Chubb and Dalvin Cook) are already there, with Derrick Henry, Mixon, Josh Jacobs and Le’Veon Bell on pace to reach the standard over the season’s final two weeks. There were only five, six and six 300-plus touch players, respectively, over the previous three seasons and 2012 was the last season with 10 or more RBs reaching the 300 mark.

Trio of Chargers in pursuit of history

Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler are looking to accomplish something that hasn’t been done in 11 seasons.

Despite a season of offensive struggles, the Los Angeles Chargers have a chance to accomplish a special milestone.

Wide receivers Mike Williams, Keenan Allen and running back Austin Ekeler are looking to be the first Chargers trio to amass 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 1980.

In that year, wide receiver John Jefferson led the team with 1,340 receiving yards followed by tight end Kellen Winslow (1,290) and wide receiver Charlie Joiner (1,132).

Only five teams in NFL history have had three players with 1,000 receiving yards or more in a single season. The last team to do it was the Arizona Cardinals in 2008 with Larry Fitzgerald (1,431), Anquan Boldin (1,038) and Steve Breaston (1,006).

Allen was the first to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He has a team-high 1,046, followed by Williams (912) and Ekeler (892). This marks the third consecutive season that Allen has posted more than 1,000 receiving yards.

Turnovers and missed opportunities in red zone situations have been the difference between winning and losing, as they’re only averaging 21.4 points per game. But these three players, along with tight end Hunter Henry have been the bright spots on the offensive side of the ball.

[lawrence-related id=31883,31880,31871,31863]

Vikings need to be ready for the 1-2 punch of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler

The Chargers have the one-two punch at running back of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler.

The Vikings rush defense will be tested in Week 15 against the Chargers in Los Angeles.

The Chargers have the one-two punch at running back of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler.

Gordon has ran for 523 yards and five touchdowns to go with 25 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. Ekeler has ran for 481 yards and three touchdowns to go with 73 catches for 830 yards and eight touchdowns.

Minnesota’s defense will have to be on alert of course for the run, but also for Ekeler in the receiving game.

Even with that talent, the Chargers rank just 22nd in the league in total rushing yards. The Vikings defense, meanwhile, ranks 11th in yards allowed.

Chargers’ Players of the Game in Week 14 vs. Jaguars

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez gives the Players of the Game award for Week 14’s matchup against the Jaguars.

The Los Angeles Chargers enjoyed a dominant 45-10 victory over the Jaguars on Sunday.

Here are the Chargers players of the game:

Offensive Player of the Game: RB Austin Ekeler

It was challenging to pick one player because the Chargers had one of their best offensive outings of the season. But the 5-foot-10 back out of Western Colorado deserves this week’s honor for his play, not only on the ground but through the air.

Ekeler rushed for a career-high 101 yards on just eight carries and added four catches for 112 yards and an eye-popping 84-yard touchdown where he turned on the jets and found the end zone.

He became the second Charger in team history to record 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in a game since Lionel James in 1985.

Defensive Player of the Game: DE Joey Bosa

Prior to yesterday’s matchup, we mentioned how Bosa had a favorable matchup going up against a rookie offensive tackle. Bosa, who had not posted a sack in three consecutive games before yesterday, quickly changed that.

Bosa finished with four tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits. He now has 10.5 sacks on the season.

Special Teams Player of the Game: P Ty Long

This season, Long has made it clear that punters are people, too. Long, who’s enjoyed a stellar rookie season, delivered an impactful performance that may have gone unnoticed yet again. He only had to punt twice, but they combined for 54 yards with a long of 55, putting the Jaguars in an unfavorable position both times. Long has also been a key component to the team’s kickoffs, as well.

[lawrence-related id=31573,31566,31561,31553]

Instant analysis of Chargers’ 45-10 victory over Jaguars

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez delivers his recap on the Los Angeles Chargers’ victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Los Angeles Chargers snapped their three-game losing streak with a huge win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Here is our instant analysis from the Chargers’ 45-10 victory:

Injury Report

There weren’t any injuries that occurred today.

Play of the Game: Mike Williams’ receiving touchdown

Entering the game, Williams had yet to post a touchdown reception this season. But that quickly changed as quarterback Philip Rivers found him for a phenomenal 44-yard catch over a defender that went for a score.

Notable Number

213: Austin Ekeler totaled 213 yards from the line of scrimmage, becoming the first Charger to do so since Lionel James in 1985.

Quick Takes

  • Happy Birthday to quarterback Philip Rivers! On his 38th birthday, Rivers had quite the performance, finishing 16-of-22 passing for 314 yards and three touchdowns.
  • What do you do when facing one of the league’s worst run defenses? You run the ball, and that they did, tallying 191 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
  • The offensive line was at their best, only allowing one sack on the afternoon. Not only did they keep Rivers upright for nearly the entire contest, but they did an outstanding job to create lanes in the running game.
  • The red zone offense flipped a switch after a season’s worth of woes, going 3-of-3. We saw some creative play-calling and utilizing the running backs more.
  • It took some time, but wide receiver Mike Williams finally found the end zone. He finished with a pair of catches for 63 yards. Wide receiver Keenan Allen had a strong outing, finishing with five receptions for 83 yards.
  • Up big in the fourth quarter, the backups got some snaps, including quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who finished 3-of-5 for 26 yards and a passing touchdown to tight end Virgil Green. We also saw some mobility at the position, as he ran the ball four times with a long of nine.
  • The defense was unable to force a fumble from quarterback Gardner Minshew, but they brought him down twice, both who came from defensive end Joey Bosa. Bosa now has 10.5 sacks.
  • The run defense department had its ups and downs. While they had their fair share of stops at or before the line of scrimmage, they were easily gashed in the trenches to create openings and they had a few missed tackles.

Up Next

The Chargers return to Dignity Health Sports Park to take on the Vikings on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 1:05 p.m. PT.

[lawrence-related id=31546,31541,31533,31526]

Key takeaways from first half of Chargers vs. Jaguars

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez lays out what stood out in the first half of the Chargers and Jaguars’ Week 14 matchup.

The Los Angeles Chargers lead the Jacksonville Jaguars at the halfway mark, 24-3.

Here are some key takeaways from the first half of play:

  • The Chargers knew that the Jaguars run defense ranks near the bottom of the league and they have done a fine job exploiting it. Going to them early on, running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler are currently averaging 10.7 yards per carry.
  • Quarterback Philip Rivers is 12-of-17 passing for 152 yards and a touchdown, with the majority of his success coming from short passes that turned into big gains. Rivers took two shots deep to tight end Hunter Henry and wide receiver Jalen Guyton, but one was slightly overthrown and the other was dropped.
  • The offensive play-calling has brilliant. The Chargers are making an effort to find the running backs in space in the passing game today and they’ve been getting creative to exploit the backend of the Jaguars defense. This is something that we addressed how they need to fix their red zone woes and it’s working as they’re 2 for 2.
  • Wide receiver Keenan Allen leads the team with three receptions for 60 yards.

  • You can’t ask for a better performance from the defense, holding the Jags to only three points. The only thing that’s been killing them is missed tackles at the first and second levels.
  • Linebacker Drue Tranquill is leading the team with five tackles. Defensive end Joey Bosa posted a sack and a tackle for loss. Safety Derwin James has a pass defended.

[lawrence-related id=31541,31533,31526,31504]

Chargers’ offense needs rapid red zone improvement

The Chargers haven’t been able to close out games, but they also haven’t been able to score points.

The Los Angeles Chargers have found nearly every single way in the book to lose games. Each of their losses has been within seven points or less.

How are the Chargers getting so close to winning contests, but struggling to come out on top? One of the biggest issues that has required detailed attention all season, but has not improved is the Bolts’ inability to score points in the red zone.

It just so happens that’s where two of their games were lost — running back Melvin Gordon’s fumble vs. Titans and quarterback Philip Rivers’ game-ending interception against the Chiefs.

The team has been by haunted within their opponent’s 20-yard line by turnovers and simply settling for field goals, which is why the Chargers are No. 22 in scoring this year, averaging just 19.8 points a contest.

Through 12 games, the offense currently has a red zone efficiency of 46.34%, which is 26th in the league, per Team Rankings. For comparison, last year they had a percentage of 64.41%, which was eighth-best in the league.

“I think when you go back and look at certain things,” Steichen says. “Obviously, you want to put our guys in the best position. Sometimes, they make a play, but obviously, we have to do a better job of looking at what we’re doing. Whether it’s the situation where we’re running it or we’re throwing it.

Obviously, it’s a cat-and-mouse game when you’re playing against defensive coordinator. You might think he’s going to be in a two-deep shell and then he plays man. There’s that we have to do a better job of self-scouting and trying to see what they’re going to be in,” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said on red zone woes.

One of the biggest issues is that they aren’t utilizing the right players. Wide receiver Keenan Allen is getting the majority of the looks, but it’s nearly always short of the sticks on quick slants or flats.

Allen, who is the best receiver on the team, is nearly always getting open but he may not be the top option on third-down situations in the red zone.

You’d think that the Chargers would take advantage of wide receiver Mike Williams’ size and leaping ability to finally help him score for the first time this season on jump ball situations. But they haven’t and instead have used him on shorter routes or teams are sitting in his routes because Rivers will stare him down from the get go.

And then there’s tight end Hunter Henry. Henry has gotten a fair share of red zone looks, a few of which have resulted in touchdowns. But it’s not on a consistent basis and lately he’s been running posts or crossing routes, which means that Rivers will read the linebackers and if he doesn’t like it, he’s going elsewhere which hasn’t been working.

Another reason why the team hasn’t been able to find success when the field shrinks is because far too often they seem to forget about running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler and rely heavily on Rivers to get the job done, especially within the five.

Lastly, which ties into all that’s been mentioned. Get creative with the play-calling to create mismatches and get players open. Despite this touchdown being just shy of the red zone, it shows what they need to do.

Ekeler and Gordon ran a route to the left, Gordon went into the flat and Ekeler on a wheel route up the sideline. It froze up the linebacker and Ekeler was wide open for the score.

The bottom line is that it’s puzzling that a team with so much talent on the offensive side of the ball has struggled to find an identity in the red zone. In order to be more efficient the Chargers need to do a better job with play-calling, route combinations to set up mismatches and run the ball more in tight quarters.

[lawrence-related id=31473,31450,31449,31438]

Badgers in the NFL: Melvin Gordon unsure about future with Chargers

Former Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon is set to hit free agency after the season, and is unsure where the future will lead.

The Melvin Gordon saga has wound down in the past few weeks, but the former Wisconsin Badgers running back – now with the Los Angeles Chargers – is still unsure where his future lies in the NFL.

“I don’t know, man,” Gordon told the Los Angeles Times’ Mike DiGiovanna when asked if he had earned the contract he is looking for. “It’s hard to look and say you warrant anything when you’re losing. I just have to do my job. No one knows their situation. It’s the business side of things. I don’t know if I’ll be here or somewhere else. Hopefully, it is here.”

Gordon very publicly held out at the beginning of the 2019 season, hoping for a contract in the $13 million range per year. After fellow Chargers running back Austin Ekeler had a strong start to the year, Gordon eventually returned to avoid his contract tolling, and has racked up 468 rushing yards and four touchdowns in eight games.

Gordon will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and while he wants to stay with Los Angeles, the emergence of Ekeler makes it likely he’ll start the decade with a new NFL team.

[lawrence-related id=9456]

As close losses mount, so does frustration for Chargers players

Austin Ekeler, Rayshawn Jenkins and Melvin Gordon all had words to say following another heartbreaking loss.

The Los Angeles Chargers are 4-8 and all eight losses have been by seven points or less. They’ve been margins of three, seven, seven, seven, three, two, seven, and three points.

Whether it’s fumbling at the goal-line, interceptions, or most recently, getting hit with a penalty that should’ve never been called to ensue the game-winning field goal on the final drive, the Chargers haven’t caught a break.

The frustration from the fanbase has been evident. Many of them had high expectations entering this season, but now they wake up each Sunday wondering how their favorite team is going to find a way to lose.

It has become a pattern so consistent that the players on the team can’t even hide how maddening it is.

“It seems like we’re literally trying to figure out every way you can possibly lose a game,” running back Austin Ekeler said.

“This feels like maybe six of the other losses we’ve had. This is another one we should have won,” safety Rayshawn Jenkins said.

“We’re good enough to put these games away earlier, and every week we somehow fail to do so. And, every time, it bites you in the butt in the end,” running back Melvin Gordon said.

When assessing what went wrong for the Chargers this season, there will be a few notables including the injuries to key players, quarterback Philip Rivers’ decline and the coaching change.

But the team still had enough talent to hang with anyone, yet they were unable to overcome shooting themselves in the foot when games were on the line on a weekly basis.

[lawrence-related id=31314,31307,31301,31291]

Instant analysis of Chargers’ 23-20 loss to Broncos

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez delivers his thoughts from the Chargers’ 23-20 loss to the Broncos.

The Chargers were hit with another gut-punch on Sunday.

Los Angeles lost on a game-winning 53-yard field goal by Broncos kicker Brandon McManus as time expired. The field goal was set up by a questionable defensive pass interference call against cornerback Casey Hayward, putting Denver in field goal range.

With the loss, the Chargers drop to 4-8 on the season.

Here is our instant analysis from the Week 13 matchup.

Injury Report

There weren’t any notable injuries in today’s game.

Play of the Game: Mike Williams’ 38-yard reception

On 4th-and-11 with a little over two minutes left, Williams came up clutch again with a monstrous reception. He fell, got up and brought in the ball with his left hand over cornerback Isaac Yiadom.

Notable Number

17: 17 of the Chargers’ last 25 games have been decided by a single possession.

Quick Takes

  • Quarterback Philip Rivers looked like he was going to get benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor early on when he looked rattled and was missing his receivers, but he turned it around towards the end of the half when he found running back Austin Ekeler for the score.
  • Rivers’ second half was more promising. He benefitted from running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler in the short passing game, wide open receivers and big catches from his pass-catchers, including Williams’ reception on fourth-down.
  • It was evident with the 29 carries that the Chargers wanted to revolve around the running game to bring them success instead of having the same episode of the past two games. Running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler combined for 115 yards (4.0 yards per carry)
  • Three sacks may suggest that it was a poor performance from the offensive line, but on two of them, Rivers had time to get rid of the ball and elected to walk into the pressure.
  • The battle between WR Keenan Allen and CB Chris Harris Jr. went in favor Allen, who had six receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown.
  • As for the matchup between CB Casey Hayward and WR Courtland Sutton, Sutton got the best of Hayward, as he amassed four receptions for 74 yards and two scores.
  • Despite what the scoreboard shows, the Chargers defense had a phenomenal outing, holding the Broncos to 218 total yards.
  • Led by linebacker Drue Tranquill and his three tackles for loss, Denver’s running game was held to 84 yards on the ground.
  • Safety Derwin James was used all over the field, but he made his biggest impact as a pass rusher, putting rookie Drew Lock under duress on a few plays. Adrian Phillips delivered some huge blows and came up big on third-down situations.

Up Next

The Chargers travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars next Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1:05 p.m. PT.

[lawrence-related id=31240,31234,31226,31222]