Tag: Chargers Loss

HC Brandon Staley shoulders blame for Chargers’ loss to Texans

Being outcoach and outplayed is one thing, but the Chargers’ loss falls on the team’s lack of depth.

There was not much for Chargers fans to be enthusiastic about Sunday afternoon, as the Texans pulled one of the season’s biggest upsets.

Head coach Brandon Staley was not afraid to put the blame on his shoulders following Los Angeles’ loss to Houston.

“I just didn’t coach well enough today,” Staley said. “I didn’t coach well enough. I didn’t put our guys in good enough positions to be consistent in the game and that’s why we lost.”

The Bolts entered Week 16 with 14 players on the COVID-19 list, including Joey Bosa, Austin Ekeler, Corey Linsley, and Mike Williams. In addition, they were missing Derwin James and Michael Davis.

However, the Texans had COVID-19 issues of their own, as 20 players were on the reserve list.

Nonetheless, Houston had its way with Los Angeles, forcing two field goals on the first two drives and coming up with three turnovers that resulted in 17 points.

On the other side of the ball, the Chargers’ defense could not withstand the Texans’ offense all without their star skill player, Brandin Cooks, and three starting offensive linemen.

The front seven struggled to slow Rex Burkhead, who ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, while the secondary allowed rookie quarterback Davis Mills to throw for 254 yards and two scores.

Furthermore, the Texans were highly efficient on third down, as they converted nine of 13 attempts while controlling the ball for nearly 35 minutes.

Being outcoach and outplayed is one thing, but this loss primarily falls on the Chargers’ lack of depth.

The team has been tested in certain position groups throughout the season, but they were exposed in all facets in just one game. Now, they no longer control their playoff destiny.

4 takeaways from Chargers’ 31-30 loss to Broncos

Change needs to occur within the Los Angeles Chargers organization.

After suffering defeat to the Broncos on Sunday, the Chargers have now blown four consecutive, double-digit leads of 17 points, 17 points, 16 points, and 21 points respectively. Los Angeles has lost three of those games.

While many are still trying to figure out what happened in Empower Field at Mile High, here are my takeaways from Los Angeles’ 31-30 loss to Denver in Week 8.

Justin Herbert remains the bright spot

Herbert has been the primary reason that the Chargers have been in every single game this season, and it was no different on Sunday afternoon.

The rookie may have started out slow, boasting four drives that resulted in two punts, an interception and a turnover on down, but he kept cool and turned things around quickly after.

Herbert completed 13 consecutive passes. Included in that streak was all three of his touchdowns. He may have thrown an interception in the second half when trying to find wide receiver Mike Williams in the end zone, but that was his only hiccup.

At the end of the day, Herbert completed 67.4% of his passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns against one of the league’s most stingy defenses.

When you’re doing everything you can to put your team in position to win games, it then becomes the defense’s responsibility to back it up, which they failed to do.

Running game came to life

It was becoming evident that the running game was becoming nonexistent without RB Austin Ekeler in the starting lineup.

Prior to the game, rookie Joshua Kelley failed to surpass 30 rushing yards in the three outings prior to and Justin Jackson was coming off a performance where he only he ran for 12 yards.

Coach Anthony Lynn made it a priority that he wanted to get back to running the ball efficiently, and the unit came up in a big way. Facing a defense that was only allowing 109 rushing yards per game, the Chargers ran for 210 yards.

Jackson was the leading rusher with 89 yards on 17 carries, but Troymaine Pope, who signed off the practice squad, made the most of his opportunities, rushing for 67 yards on 10 carries. Kelley finished with 32 yards with his longest carry being 22 yards.

A lot of credit goes to the offensive line, who did a nice job of clearing holes for the backs all afternoon long.

Defensive meltdown

One of the biggest storylines to follow in this game was an issue that’s been ongoing all season, with that being the defensive consistency. Like any other given Sunday, the Chargers looked like a top ranked unit, but they fell apart out of the tunnel.

Los Angeles’ defense allowed four Denver touchdowns in just a quarter and a half. While there were missed tackles, blown assignments and coverages, and bone-headed penalties in critical moments, it’s coming to the point to where defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is the one to blame.

L.A. was making plays in the first half, but a lack of an adjustment was something that the Broncos exploited. Bradley failed to mix up the coverages and utilize different blitz packages to continue to stress QB Drew Lock.

Instead, he relied on his Cover 3 scheme, where Denver then had success. Lock went into the half with just 58 yards, but finished the game with 248 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s become clear that the team has the defensive players to get the job done, even with the injuries, but the lack of adjustments to hold a lead is becoming a consistent trend that they can’t afford to happen anymore.

Anthony Lynn is on the hot seat, again

Just when you thought three straight games of blown leads of at least 16 points was enough, the Chargers made you think again on Sunday. The thing that’s been commonly pointed to for these blunders has been injuries. But it’s reached a deeper level.

Lynn has struggled to adjust his game plan and strategy throughout to put full games together and get wins. Los Angeles is 3-14 in one-score games over the last two seasons. They are 0-8 in the AFC West over the same span.

Despite the injuries to key players, L.A. has more than enough talent to beat anyone in the league. They’ve shown that in the first two or three quarters by putting together huge leads, but those leads have gone to waste in each of those contests.

Lynn is coveted as the person he is, the strong voice he has and the impact he’s made in the community, but his coaching is not cutting it anymore.

Read the first sentence of this article again. Four in a row is just unacceptable, and it’s gotten to the point where change must occur, whether it’s getting rid of Lynn, Bradley or both.

What Chargers HC Anthony Lynn said after loss to Broncos

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn has to be on the hot seat after the loss to the Broncos.

The Chargers looked like they were on their way to picking up their first AFC West win since 2018 after leading by 21 points against the Broncos on Sunday.

But, people that have watched Los Angeles before knew exactly where the game was headed.

After the half, Denver mustered 28 points, including wide receiver KJ Hamler’s touchdown catch as time expired. The reception left Chargers players and fans watching the same episode that they’ve seen time after time.

Coach Anthony Lynn said it was something that never should have happened once the team had such a large lead.

“I’m sorry. I feel bad,” Lynn said. “That game we had it completely under control. We lost it and I take responsibility for it. It’s totally unacceptable.”

It’s the fourth straight game that they’ve led by at least 16 points and then given up all of that lead.

After the loss, Lynn’s seat has undoubtedly gotten warmer. He was asked about his job security and he said “when you’re not winning, you should be.”

Lynn, emotional, said now is not the time to make coaching or personnel changes.

“What do you want to do? Go hire new players? Go hire new coaches right in the middle of the season? You can’t do that. This is what we have. We’re gonna have to figure this [expletive] out right now,” Lynn said.

One or two blown double-digit leads is still head-scratching, but four in a row ultimately falls on the coach’s shoulders.

Instant analysis of Chargers’ 38-31 loss to Buccaneers

A breakdown of the Los Angeles Chargers’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Chargers’ fate came down to the final drive, yet again. Unfortunately, the team was unable to string together a win, dropping their third consecutive game to the Buccaneers by the score of 38-31.

Here is our instant analysis from Los Angeles’ loss to Tampa Bay:

Injury Report

Running back Austin Ekeler suffered a hamstring injury late in the first quarter. Ekeler struggled to walk on his own and ended up having to be carted off. He never returned to the game, and his status remains to be seen.

Play(s) of the Game: All of Justin Herbert’s touchdown passes

Time to look back on throws of beauty.

Notable Number

10: Justin Herbert was 10 passing yards away from joining Joe Burrow on being the first quarterbacks to have 300 yards in their first three starts.

Quick Notes

There weren’t a lot of positives from this game, but one of the very few was Justin Herbert. Missing two starting offensive lineman, running back Austin Ekeler and wide receiver Mike Williams, Herbert still managed to finish 20-of-25 passing for 290 yards, three touchdowns and his lone interception that came on the final drive.

Tight end Donald Parham and Wide receiver Tyron Johnson each caught touchdowns on their first career receptions. It’s just the third time a pair of teammates have done so in the same game in the NFL in the last 40 seasons. They are the only pair of undrafted teammates to do so over that span.

Herbert continues to show drastic improvement with his pocket presence, as two of his touchdown throws were in the face of a rush. There were other instances of him diagnosing it and getting out of the pocket to make something out of nothing.

Herbert was sacked twice, but the offensive line did a great job against a Buccaneers pass rush that had six sacks last weekend.

The running game was nonexistent after running back Austin Ekeler went down. In total, the Chargers only had 46 yards rushing, with Herbert leading the pack with a measly 14 yards.

This was one of the worst defensive performances in the past couple of seasons. The defensive line was getting zero push, allowing the Buccaneers to average 4.3 yards per carry and giving quarterback Tom Brady plenty of time in the pocket to throw.

Blown coverages hurt the Chargers, but they had a few instances of getting beat on one-on-one opportunities.

The red zone defense was solid last weekend against the Panthers, but they struggled immensely, allowing Tampa Bay to convert four of their five attempts.

Sunday’s “what ifs” include “what if Joshua Kelley wouldn’t have fumbled in Chargers territory,” and “what if coach Anthony Lynn would have gone for it on fourth-down in the fourth quarter.”

Up Next

The Chargers will be on the road again to take on the Saints. The Week 5 matchup will be played on Monday, Oct. 12 at 5:15 p.m. PT.

Connection between Chargers’ Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen continues to flourish

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has heavily favored wide receiver Keenan Allen in his first two starts.

Wide receivers of Keenan Allen’s nature don’t come around that often. When you have one, you must take advantage of it.

Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert has wasted no time utilizing Allen to his fullest, and it was on full display in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers.

Doing what he does best by creating separation with his savvy route-running, Allen was targeted 19 times, tying a career-high. He turned does targets into 13 receptions for 132 yard and one touchdown.

In Herbert’s debut, Allen was targeted 10 times which he converted into 96 yards on seven catches.

Sunday was notable for Allen, as he passed Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow for No. 3 on the team’s all-time receptions list, as well as tying the former great for second in team history in 100-yard performances (24).

Allen was Herbert’s number one read on almost every play. That may have bit the rookie a bit, as seen on his interception when he targeted the Pro Bowl wideout when he could have checked the ball down instead.

Allen was surely Herbert’s safety valve on third downs, along with his go-to option in the end zone as he was targeted twice, with one of them that they turned into six late in the game.

Given the fact that Mike Williams is playing banged up and no one has established themselves as the third wide receiver (excluding tight end Hunter Henry and running back Austin Ekeler), we can expect to see the trend of Allen being heavily targeted.

“My job is to get you the ball. I am your assistant,” is what Herbert said to Allen during training camp, which was shown on HBO’s Hard Knocks. That is all coming to fruition.

Twitter reacts to Chargers’ Week 17 loss to Chiefs

How did Twitter react to the Los Angeles Chargers’ Week 17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs?

That’s it. The 2019 regular season has come to an end for the Los Angeles Chargers. The loss to the Kansas City Chiefs could also mark the last game for a handful of notable of players, including quarterback Philip Rivers.

Overall, the Chargers didn’t play great in all three phases of the game. Questionable throws, dropped passes, inconsistent offensive play and missed tackles were the result of Los Angeles dropping their 11th and final game.

Here’s how the general population reacted to the season finale: