Welcome back Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates! The duo is back on top of their respective games and I for one is ecstatic to see it. A co-worker pointed out to me that Rivers is #2 in TDs (11), Passer Rating (118.8), and completion % (.739) so far this season...I don't think I have to tell who is #1 in those categories (in case you haven't been paying attention, it's Peyton Manning). Rivers is also 8th in completions (105), 7th in Passing Yards (1199), 5th in Yards per attempt (8.4), and tied for 5th in Interception % (1.4%). The Chargers are running a Peyton like no huddle offense with Rivers calling the plays at the line of scrimmage, no doubt put in by Mike McCoy, and Rivers is doing a decent Peyton imitation. Considering the starting receivers from last season hasn't been on the field for the last two games (#1 WR Danario Alexander was lost in the preseason and #2 Malcolm Floyd has been out since the 1st play of the 3rd quarter in week 2), Rivers has surpassed any expectation anyone had for him this year and he's still learning the offense. Against the Cowboys, Rivers stat line looked like this: 35-42, 401 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT. On the interception, Rivers was hit as he threw and the ball fluttered out of his hand like the proverbial lame duck. Rivers responded on the next possession by driving them down the field with 1:13 left in the half to get a field goal to close the score to 21-13 and went on to lead the Chargers to scores on 5 straight drives.
Some of Rivers' success has to be given to Gates. Gates is playing injury free for the first time in 3 seasons and it's showing. In 4 games he's already has more than 50% of his catches and yards from last season. He leads the Chargers in both categories (25 catches, 364 yards) and his current 14.6 yards/catch is tied for 3rd best in his career.
Maybe rookie Keennan Allen had something to do with Gates success. Allen's debut last week against the Titans was...forgettable (1 catch, -1 yard). He made an impact this week, catching 5 for 80 yards. When Malcom Floyd comes back from injury it wouldn't surprise me to see Vincent Brown becoming the backup and Allen taking his starting spot. Brown is faster, but Allen has the size (6'2", 240) and athletic ability to be a great possession receiver. It won't scare you like what they have in Denver, but Floyd, Allen, Royal, Gates, and Danny Woodhead on the field at the same time is going to be hard to cover.
Coming into Week 4 the Chargers were missing 3 starting offensive lineman. The Cowboys were 6th in sacks led by DeMarcus Ware with 4. Starting LT King Dunlap was one of the missing on Sunday. The Chargers had also given up 100+ receiving yards to a WR in each of the first 3 games and Tony Romo and Dez Bryant were probably looking forward to make it 4 straight games. It looked like it was going to be a rough game for the Chargers.
Amazingly, the Cowboys recorded only 1 sack. Rookie RT D.J. Fluker got beat badly by DE George Selvie in the first quarter. Fluker seems to have one of those every game where the opposing defensive lineman makes him look silly, but overall Fluker has been solid and he and the rest of the line kept Rivers' upright for the rest of the game. Mike Harris got the start for Dunlap at LT and Ware never got to Rivers. Johnnie Troutman got his first start at LG and obviously helped in the pass protection, but really made his presence felt in the running game. Most of the Chargers' running plays were between the tackles and Troutman looked like he should be starting.
The Chargers' running game was effective if unspectacular. Ryan Mathews continues to get the bulk of the carries (19 for 62 yards), but hasn't made any impact plays. Mathews also caught 4 passes for 41 yards, but it's been Woodhead that's been in the game in the red zone (5 carries, 32 yards, 5 catches, 51 yards, 2 TDs).
In the 2nd half the Chargers blanked the Cowboys 20-0 for the 30-21 win.
Bryant did end up with two 2 TDs, but was "held" to 6 catches for 81 yards. Considering the Chargers had given up 131 yards to Nate Washington the week before, holding Bryant to 81 was a big improvement. The front seven finally made some plays, recording a sack each by DE's Corey Liuget and Kendall Reyes and another by OLB Jarret Johnson. The group also held DeMarco Murray in check (14 carries, 70 yards).
Although the defense did shutout the Cowboys in the 2nd half, some of the credit has to go to the offense. Rivers and crew scored on the first 3 2nd half drives, going 80, 84, and 80 yards. Cowboys only had the ball for one drive in the 3rd quarter. The Chargers did have a 4th drive, but by that time they were up 30-21 and trying to kill the clock. Cowboys had only 4 drives also, the last one meaningless down 9 with 1:02 left. Romo did manage to make a late charge on the previous drive, going 8-11 on all pass plays, but the drive ended with a fumble by Terrance Williams. Williams caught a pass inside the Charger 5 and tried to stretch for the score, but had the ball knocked out of his by Eric Weddle.
The defense still has a long way to go and they rank in the bottom half of the league in just about every major defensive category. I said last week that the offense was going to have to put away games until the defense got better and that's what they did on Sunday. It's going to be even rougher moving forward with the loss of Dwight Freeney (possibly for the rest of the year). Freeney suffere a torn quad in the 2nd quarter...which makes the 2nd half shutout even more surprising. With the lost of the Chargers' 2012 sack leader Melvin Ingram in the preseason, the2013 Chargers have not generated much of a pass rush even with Freeney. 2009 1st round draft pick Alex English gets one more chance to prove that pick wasn't a waste. English and rookie Tourek Williams rotated at OLB in the 2nd half against the Cowboys.
Oh, about Manti Te'o's first NFL game...I saw him early (the Chargers even played a 4-3 with Te'o as the middle linebacker), but I didn't notice him in the rest of the game. He ended up with 3 tackles.
Next week at Oakland. I said this before the Titans' game and they lost, but as Yogi Berra said, "I ain't superstitious, it's bad luck!" The Chargers should come out of Oakland with a win. The cruel truth is, if it wasn't for the Jaguars, the Raiders would be the worse team in the league (sad for a once proud franchise). Raiders only win came over the Jags, who are so bad that during their last home game against Seattle, the local TV station had to issue an apology, stating that they were under obligation to broadcast the game. In that game against the Seahawks they were 20 point underdogs, the biggest spread ever in an NFL game...and that will probably be broken 2 weeks from now when the Jags visit Denver.
The Chargers can't possibly lose to the Raiders (please don't let that be a jinx!).
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