Tag: Cameron Dicker

What went right and what went wrong for the 2024 Chargers

After finishing the regular season on a three-game winning streak, LA’s season ended in disappointing fashion in the Wild Card round.

The Chargers’ 2024 season came to a disappointing end after a one-and-done trip to the postseason. Still, the season gave a glimmer of hope for the future of the franchise.

Below, we will tackle just went right as well as what went wrong with this year’s squad.

Right: New coaching staff

Jim Harbaugh was able to implement his style of football into this team immediately. That was evident before the season even began when the team beefed up in the trenches. The squad was able to win some closer games and actually exceed expectations, something that isn’t often said about Chargers teams. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was an exceptional hire as well, as the defense was No. 1 in the NFL in scoring.

Wrong: Playmakers for Justin Herbert

There were heavy criticisms last offseason after the Chargers seemingly didn’t address the wide receiver and tight end positions enough. Most of the low-risk signings ended up being complete busts at the two positions, which included Will Dissly, DJ Chark, and Hayden Hurst. Too often, Justin Herbert had to rely on his stud rookie Ladd McConkey, and had essentially no one else to go to. The front office should learn from their mistakes and target these two positions heavily this offseason.

Right: Rookie class

Enough can’t be said about Joe Alt and McConkey, who obviously head this class. That’s not all though, as the team’s two rookie corners, Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart, were big-time contributors in 2024. Without this rookie class, this team would not have made the postseason this year. It looks to be one of the best draft classes in Chargers history, and we’re already one year in. They were a big reason for this year’s success, and the same should be said for the future.

Wrong: Consistency

It was an up-and-down year for the Chargers, namely when it came to them playing better competition. They finished with a 2-6 record against playoff teams this year, both wins coming against the Broncos. That’s right, with the exception of Denver, the Chargers were winless against playoff teams this year. There’s no doubt that this team still has some flaws, and that will be addressed by the front office this offseason. One would hope this team can be a bit more consistent in 2025 with hopefully a few more offensive weapons to give them a more balanced unit.

Right: Special teams

This aspect of NFL teams often goes unlooked, but the Chargers’ special teams unit was quite solid in 2024. Cameron Dicker continues to be one of the best, most consistent kickers in the league. In his third NFL season, he went 41-for-44 on field goal attempts, which included several clutch, timely ones. Derius Davis was quite solid in the return game and gave the team positive field position on several occasions. This unit did more good for the team than bad, and that should continue as long as Dicker sticks around in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Chargers scored a 4-point touchdown thanks to Cameron Dicker’s all-time blunder

Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker clearly doesn’t know the NFL rulebook.

It was already a tough afternoon for the Los Angeles Chargers in their blowout AFC Wild Card loss against the Houston Texans. Amid a futile comeback attempt, kicker Cameron Dicker put the awful cherry on top.

After Ladd McConkey scored an 86-yard touchdown to bring L.A. within 11 points in the mid-fourth quarter, all Dicker had to do was pot an easy extra point, and a Chargers comeback felt feasible, even if it was still unrealistic.

THE CHARGERS WERE CHARGERING: Jim Harbaugh sure could’ve used SpongeBob SquarePants’ positive attitude.

Instead, the Texans blocked Dicker’s attempt.

OK, sure, that’s bad, but it’s survivable. The issue is that the blocked football awkwardly went straight up into the air around Dicker. Rather than catch the ball and take a hit, Dicker elected to bat the ball down as if it were a pass presumably because he thought the play would be dead.

That is not the case in the NFL rulebook. A football from a blocked kick is always live. In a hilarious turn of events, the Texans returned the missed extra point after Dicker’s ill-fated decision-making borne by a player who may not have known the rules. In essence, because of Dicker, the Chargers scored a four-point touchdown with the two-point swing to Houston.

Man … what???

Here’s a better angle of Dicker trying to bat the ball down:

In a playoff game full of classic “Chargers-ing,” Dicker took the cake here. He embodied his snakebitten franchise to a tee with this all-time blunder.

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3 Chargers players named to AFC Pro Bowl roster

Three Chargers players were recognized for their efforts this season.

Three Chargers players have made the NFL’s 2025 Pro Bowl roster, the league announced Thursday.

Edge defender Khalil Mack, safety Derwin James and offensive tackle Rashawn Slater will start for the AFC team, which will be coached by Peyton Manning.

Mack is nowhere near his career-high 17 sacks that he totaled in 2023, but he can still get after the quarterback, currently with 47 pressures and seven sacks. He’s also impactful as a run defender. His PFF grade is 88.1 in that department.

James continues to be an imposing presence on the backend of the defense. He is up to 90 tackles, nine tackles for loss and six pass breakups. But James has also shined as a pass rusher, as he has a career-high 5.5 sacks.

Slater has cemented himself as one of the top tackles in all of football. A wall in pass protection, he has a 90.4 pass block grade, which ranks third. Running backs have had success running to the left side, largely because of Slater, who owns a 82.8 run block grade.

Several Chargers players were listed as Pro Bowl alternates: Quarterback Justin Herbert, kicker Cameron Dicker, wide receiver Derius Davis, offensive tackle Joe Alt, edge defender Joey Bosa, fullback Scott Matlock, linebacker Nick Niemann, center Bradley Bozeman and wide receiver Ladd McConkey.

Chargers score 21 straight points, upend Broncos in key AFC West clash

Chargers’ second-half surge shortcircuits Broncos

The Los Angeles Chargers scored three touchdowns bridging the third and fourth quarters on Thursday and rallied to down the Denver Broncos, 34-27, at SoFi Stadium.

The Chargers’ victory left both teams at 9-6 but LA has the tiebreakers in the WIld-Card playoff picture in the AFC.

The Broncos used a different tactic in the last minute. They had two timeouts lest and trailed by 10. Rather than try for a touchdown, Sean Payton sent Wil Lutz out for a 55-yard field goal that he converted.

Trailing 34-27, Denver was set to try an onside kick. As Lutz was about to kick the football, Jim Harbaugh called a timeout.

After the reset, Chargers linebacker Nick Niemann collected the attempt and the Chargers held on for the victory.

Denver led 21-13 ar halftime. The Broncos’ lead looked like it would be 11 points but Harbaugh called for the rarely used free kick after a fair catch and Cameron Dicker connected from 57 yards to cut the deficit to eight.

 

 

Chargers’ Cameron Dicker hits first free kick field goal since 1976

Cameron Dicker with the rare free kick field goal from 57 yards

There is always the option to try a free kick field goal after a fair catch. It isn’t used too often but Jim Harbaugh put it to good use Thursday.

Cameron Dicker of the Los Angeles Chargers nailed the free kick on an untimed down at the end of the first half to bring the Bolts within 24-13/

The rule statses: “After a fair catch is made or is awarded as the result of fair catch interference, the receiving team has the option of putting the ball in play by a snap or fair catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee) from the spot of the catch or succeeding spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties (3-9 and 11-4-3). This includes the 15-yard penalty enforced from the receiving team’s 20-yard line as applicable if the fair catch is made or awarded in his end zone from fair catch interference or illegal contact with the receiver after he has made a fair catch.”

For some history:
The second-to-last successful free kick field goal in the NFC was executed by Mac Percival on Nov. 3, 1968. Percival kicked a 43-yard field goal with 26 seconds left to lift the Bears to a 13-10 victory over Green Bay. (The Chargers’ Ray Wersching nailed the last free kick in 1976, a 45-yarder against the Bills.)

From Bearsfansonline:

“People are still unaware of that rule, they don’t know about that,” Percival said in a 2011 interview with the Tribune Friday from his office in Houston.

“I swear, I don’t think any of us knew the rule at the time. And Abe Gibron (then a Bears assistant coach) was the one who told Cecil Turner, ‘Make sure you fair catch on the punt from Donny.’ So he did, and they said: ‘OK, let’s go out there and free kick.’

“Well, we had no idea what he was talking about. In fact he had to tell us, ‘Well, you line up like you’re going to do a kickoff.’ Then Richie Petitbon had his leg out like he always does to hold it. An official came up and said: ‘No, you’re offsides. Pull your leg back so you won’t be offsides when you hold the ball.’ Then they told me to try to kick it, which was fairly easy because there was no rush and no hurry. It was kind of like just being out at practice. It was quite exciting,”

 

Cameron Dicker makes NFL history

Cameron Dicker just did something the NFL hasn’t seen since 1976.

Cameron Dicker just did something the NFL hasn’t seen since 1976.

Not only that, he did it better than anybody in the history of the league.

After a fair catch interference penalty by Broncos defensive back Tremon Smith as time expired in the first half, the Chargers were awarded an untimed down from the Denver 47 yard line. Smith ran into LA returner Derius Davis with no time remaining.

Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers initially sent Justin Herbert and the offense onto the field, but ultimately trotted out Dicker after both teams took timeouts. The Chargers declared a fair catch free kick, invoking a rule rarely seen in the NFL to allow Dicker an unblockable kick from a kickoff-like formation.

The last time anybody saw the fair catch free kick in the NFL was in 2019, when the Panthers trotted Joey Slye out for a 60 yard free kick at the end of the half against the Buccaneers. Slye missed that kick, however. The last successful fair catch free kick came in 1976, when Chargers kicker Ray Wersching made a 45 yarder at the end of the half against the Bills.

Dicker’s make from 57 yards out was only the seventh successful fair catch free kick in recorded NFL history and was a full five yards longer than the previous league record. Hall of Famer Paul Hornung made a 52 yard free kick for the Packers against the Bears in 1964.

Dicker’s kick cut the lead to 21-13 at the half.

Chargers’ Cameron Dicker incredibly nailed the NFL’s first fair catch kick in nearly 50 years

WOW!

The Los Angeles Chargers dusted off one of the most obscure rules in the NFL book to land a field goal before halftime on Thursday night.

As the Chargers trailed the Denver Broncos 21-10, the team called a fair catch on a punt as time expired in the second quarter.

Rather than just go to the locker room on what seemed to be a perfunctory play, Los Angeles elected to try what is called a free kick.

A free kick is basically where, if a team hauls in a fair catch on a punt as the clock hits zero, it can elect to take a free kick for a field goal.

Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker booted the very rare, 57-yard free kick right through the uprights to make it the first successful attempt in the NFL since 1976.

Chargers kicker Ray Wersching is the last NFL player to succeed on a free kick, giving one of the strangest NFL franchises some really bizarre football history to be proud of.

What a moment this was for Dicker and L.A.

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4 Chargers players in top 10 of Pro Bowl voting

A handful of Chargers players have contributed to the team’s success, and they are being recognized for their efforts.

The Chargers are in a great position. They are currently 8-4 and the leader of the AFC Wild Card. A handful of players have contributed to the team’s success, and they are being recognized for their efforts.

The NFL kicked off Pro Bowl voting on Nov. 25 as fan voting opened for the public. Pro Bowl players are selected by consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Voting ends on Dec. 23.

Four Chargers players currently rank within the top 10 at their respective positions: Daiyan Henley (9th among inside linebackers), Scott Matlock (8th among fullbacks), Cameron Dicker (4th among kickers) and Joe Alt (6th among offensive tackles).

In his first season as a full-time starter, Henley has been a playmaker in the middle of the Chargers’ defense. He is currently tied for sixth in total tackles (114).

Since coming over to the offensive side of the ball while maintaining his role as a defensive tackle, Matlock has been a reliable two-way player and integral as a lead blocker.

Dicker has accounted for a good grip of the Chargers’ points when the offense struggled to find the end zone. He’s tied for the third-most field goals this season (27), with his longest coming from 59 yards out.

Alt is only in his first season as a pro, but he’s already looked like he’s been in the league for 10 years. He’s been a stonewall in pass protection and a road grader as a run blocker.

Chargers kicker loses embarrassing bet with Ladd McConkey

Former Georgia football wide receiver Ladd McConkey wins bet with one of his Los Angeles Charger teammates

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey won a bet with his teammate, Cameron Dicker, over the Georgia-Texas game.

McConkey, a second-round 2024 NFL draft pick out of the University of Georgia, posted an embarrassing picture of Dicker on Instagram.

Dicker played college football Texas from 2018-2021 and is widely known as “Dicker the Kicker.” Because Texas lost to Georgia, Dicker had to wear a Ladd McConkey Georgia jersey.

Dicker posed for a photo with McConkey, while McConkey did “Horns Down”. McConkey posted the photo to his Instagram story.

The Chargers are 3-3 this season. McConkey has 24 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season.

 

Chargers sign Cameron Dicker to contract extension

Cameron Dicker is now one of the highest-paid kickers in football.

The Los Angeles Chargers have signed Cameron Dicker to a contract extension in a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid kickers in football.

The deal is for four years, worth $22.004 million and includes $12.5 million guaranteed. He is signed through the 2028 season.

Since coming to Los Angeles in 2022, Dicker has been a key piece for special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken. He has converted 52 of his 55 field goal attempts, seven of which were from 50+ yards, and he has made all his extra points.

Before joining the Bolts, Dicker was signed by the Rams as an undrafted free agent out of Texas. After a short stint, he bounced around and spent some time with the Ravens and Eagles.