In the most anticipated matchup of Week 6, the Chargers stood no chance against the Ravens on Sunday.
Outmatched in all three phases, Los Angeles was nearly blown out by Baltimore, 34-6.
Here are four takeaways from the Bolts’ loss:
One of Justin Herbert’s worst performances
The last time Herbert had a woeful outing came back in Week 13 of the 2020 season when the Patriots limited him to a 49.1 completion percentage for 209 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
Fast forward to Sunday, and the Ravens got the better of Herbert. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale did an excellent job disguising their looks and bringing blitzes at a high rate. Not only that, but Herbert wasn’t making a lot of his throws, even the easy ones.
As a result, Herbert went 22 of 39 passing for 195 yards, one touchdown, and an interception.
“They do a lot of good things on defense,” Herbert said. “We didn’t execute the way we wanted to, we didn’t move the ball, we didn’t convert on third downs. I had that one turnover. You can’t turn the ball over and expect to win.”
Need to be better on early downs
The trend for the Chargers offense in prior weeks has been the success on third and fourth downs. On first and second downs, however, is where the unit has been far from consistent. On Sunday, they struggled in both facets.
Loa Angeles finished a combined 4-for-16 on third and fourth downs, with two of those fails coming from their own 39 and 19-yard line.
You can point to the Ravens stringing together a dominant defensive effort. But the reality is the early-down efficiency has been problematic, and it’s been a combination of play-calling and execution.
Keenan Allen was open for a good portion of the game, but instead, Herbert resorted to Mike Williams and Jared Cook early and often, despite the lack of success. Williams and Cook each dropped two balls, while Allen was not targeted for more than two quarters.
Repulsive run defense
I could not tell if the year was 2015 or 2021, seeing veterans Latavius Murray, Devonta Freeman, and Le’Veon Bell all carry the ball the way they did. The trio pounded the Chargers on the ground, rushing for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries.
For weeks now, it has been evident that Los Angeles does not have a defensive front capable of consistently holding its own at the point of attack. Part of that is a lack of talent, and the other part is not having the player personnel to match the schematical changes.
L.A. found out today that the porous performances against the run won’t slide every week. Last week, I pitched the idea of trading for a player like Akiem Hicks. Nonetheless, the team needs reinforcements as soon as possible, especially if they want to make a postseason run.
Suspect special teams
The Chargers spent this past offseason in an attempt to shore up the special teams department. Los Angeles brought in players, like Tristan Vizcaino Kyler Fackrell, Ryan Smith, and rookies Nick Niemann, Chris Rumph, and Larry Rountree, among others, in hopes of a quick turnaround.
However, Sunday was an indicator that one offseason was not going to fix everything.
On his lone extra-point attempt, Vizcaino missed it. He has missed five extra points and a field goal in six games. The coverage units weren’t any better, as Devin Duvernay averaged 35 yards on kick returns and 14.7 on punt returns, leading to shorter fields for the Ravens’ offense.
