The offense looked pretty good for 2 quarters + 1 drive...then couldn't get anything done the rest of the way. After that last 80 yard TD drive to start the 2nd half, the Chargers had 4 three-and-outs and the pick 6 for the tying touchdown...total time of possession for those 5 drives, 5:30.
Meanwhile, the Texans go on a 11 play 70 yard drive and 10 play 75 yard drive to get within one TD, 28-21. The killer part of those two drives was that the Chargers had the Texans in a 3rd and 18 in the first drive and Matt Schuab hit Andre Johnnson for a 20 yard gain. In the 2nd drive, they had the Texans in a 3rd and 13, and Schuab hit DeAndre Hopkins for a 30 yarder. Twice the defense had the Texans in very favorable down and distance, either one could have iced the game, and they couldn't get off the field.
On that 2nd drive, the Chargers had also stopped the Texans on 3rd and 8th. Texans settle for a field goal, but Cam Thomas gets flagged for a personal foul penalty. I will never make excuses for losing a game on a bad call...especially in this instance, where all the Chargers had to do was keep the Texans from scoring 3 touchdowns in a half...but I'm bringing it up only because it was a bad call. All Cam Thomas did was go from the left side of the center to the right side...he barely touched him, just did a swim move over the top of him...and they called Thomas for the roughing on the center. The center didn't even move out of his stance, he didn't get knocked down or anything...here's a link to the video. Ref erred with foul call. I would try a few fake field goals because of this new rule. If you can't even touch the center it would be easy for him to come off the ball and make a big hole up the middle.
Again, not making excuses...Chargers should have won this game anyway. At the very least the game should have gone into Overtime...or maybe the Chargers could have driven for the winning score. On the next possession after the tying TD, Rivers put a perfect throw into Eddie Royal that would have gotten them a first down...and Royal dropped it.
I know Rivers is going to get blamed for the loss, throwing the pick that tied the game...and he should take some blame because I saw it coming, so he should have too, but it was a nice setup by the Texans' defense. In the first half, the Texans showed a strong side blitz on a 3rd and long, Rivers put Danny Woodhead in motion to the weak side and when the Texans came with the blitz, Rivers hit Woodhead on a wheel route for 11 yards and a first down. Fast forward to the 4th. Same formation for the Chargers, same show of a stong side blitz by the Texans. As soon as Rivers sent Woodhead in motion, I thought Rivers would go to him if the Texans blitzed. Sure enough, Texans blitzed, Woodhead ran the same wheel route, but this time LB Brian Cushing came from the strong side and stepped in front of Woodhead for the pick-6. Rivers either needs to go to Woodhead quicker so the LB doesn't have time to get there or the Chargers staff needs to come up with a wrinkle off that play...I'm thinking Woodhead can fake the wheel route and go deep up the seam.
Chargers never got their running game going, which was also part of the problem when they picked up the lead. Texans have a pretty stout front 7 so I'm hopping it's more that than the Chargers inability to run. They are sure going to need it going against the Eagles next week. That Eagles team is going to be fun to watch...at least after they play the Chargers. Running 53 plays in a half is crazy, but that was sorta expected if you watched any Oregon Duck game while Chip Kelly was there. The offense really needs to help the defense out by putting together some drives. Too many 3-and-outs by the offense and the defense is going to get run out of the gym...I mean out of the stadium. It's like a run-n-gun fast break team in basketball. Here's the kicker...Kelly said in a post game interview, "I felt like it was slow to be honest with you." If the Eagles can keep this up LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson are going to be fantasy football gold. I would add Michael Vick to that, but we have a pool going in the office as to what game Vick gets put on the IR. I've got Week 4 vs. Dallas. If you're going to lineup with only 4 (and once with only 3) offensive lineman you're going to get QB killed sooner or later.
My take on the Texans game...pretty heartbreaking loss, but there were some encouraging things to take from it. It's going to take Rivers some time to get comfortable with the new starters and offense, but he looked good for just over a half and he was only sacked twice (that's good considering the Texans defense). Even Tom Brady was a little shaky with his new set of pass catchers. It's only one game so we'll see, but Rivers took a first step towards a bounce back year despite the loss.
Hope this continues for the rest of the season.
On the bad side, the rushing success from the preseason didn't carry over to Week 1. It looked like the old run blocking with Ryan Mathews not having much room to work with. The holes he had in the preseason just wasn't there against the Texans. The Chargers also couldn't generate any pass rush. They equaled the 2 sacks that the Texans got, but they were up 21 points and should have been able to tee off on Schaub...especially on those 3rd and longs. Dwight Freeney was held in check (.5 sack). The worse part was that the secondary just couldn't cover Andre Johnson, who burned the Chargers secondary for 146 yards on 12 catches.
From what I saw in the Eagles-Redskins game, the Chargers' defense better get their track shoes on when they go to Philly next week and Rivers is going to see a lot of blitzes. Mike McCoy and the rest of the staff have a lot of game planning to do this week.
Tough, tough loss for San Diego. They looked good for most of the game and the fourth quarter really doomed them. Phillip River's performance didn't help. I really like Rivers and keep thinking he'll be the Rivers of old each year. I'm not saying he's done but San Diego must get more out of him. I agree with Yaj that the running game didn't take any pressure off Rivers. I think a little more rush offense would have helped run the clock and helped Rivers out. I'll be curious to see how San Diego does against Philly. I think Philly will score their points. It is how the San Diego offense plays that will get my interest.
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