That was a heck of a game. There were 9 scores in the 2nd half alternating for both teams accounting for 7 lead changes...luckily the Chargers get the last score for the win. Phillip Rivers was sharp all game.
Lets get the Chiefs injuries out of the way...did it make a difference in the game? Losing your two outside linebackers and sack leaders have to effect your defense, but I can counter that with the fact that the Chargers are also without their starting two outside linebackers and also the two that replaced them ( starters Melvin Ingram, Dwight Freeney; subs Larry English, Jarret Johnson). Sure Justin Houston and Tamba Hali are better players, but the Chargers are down to their 3rd stringers. Chargers also lost Ryan Mathews who had 55 yards on 14 carries and 1TD before he left the game.
Also, the Chargers DBs are terrible. This week it was Donnie Avery who beat them for 4 catches, 91 yards, 1TD. Alex Smith, who isn't exactly know for throwing the ball, went 26-38, 294 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT. Corner Derek Cox was benched for the 3rd straight game. I know the Chargers paid $20 million in the free agent market to get Cox, but it's time to give up on him. He hasn't been able to cover anybody. The Chargers secondary was also hit for 4 pass interference calls and 1 holding...and I can't argue any of them.
Okay, enough of the negatives. Somehow the Chargers managed to pull off a big upset and a big reason why came from their draft.
1st round pick D.J. Fluker has been everything they needed him to be. Not only has he anchored the RT spot, but he's filled in at the all important LT spot. Starting LT King Dunlop is out for the 2nd time. Neither Hali or Houston recorded a sack while they were in and the Chiefs only got 1 the entire game on a blitz from safety Eric Berry on the winning Chargers drive.
3rd rounder, WR Keenan Allen had 8 catches for 103 yards in the first half. The Chiefs made some 2nd half adjustments and Allen ended with 9 for 124. Allen leads the Chargers with 737 yards and 3rd on the team with 50 catches and didn't start until week 3. The 737 yards also leads all rookie receivers and he's starting to get noticed as a RoY candidate.
The adjustments the Chiefs made to cover Allen opened things up for TE LaDarius Green who had 3 catches, 80 yards, 1TD all in the 2nd half. Green also had a 35 yard catch and run called back on an illegal lineman down field penalty. I've been hyping Allen and Green all season long and it's nice to see the duo making big impacts on games. Maybe the Chargers are reading my blog, because I've been saying all year that they should go to a 2 TE set with Gates and Green (especially with all the injuries to their WRs). Green scored on a 60 yard catch and run off a set with Gates and Green lined up on the right side. See the video on Chargers.com.
The inconsistencies is maddening as a fan, but I can see a lot of promise. When the Chargers get some players back from injury (namely OLB Ingram and WRs Malcom Floyd and Danario Alexander), this is going to be a lot better team. Floyd and Alexander are out for the year, but Ingram may be back before the season is over. The pickup of Danny Woodhead has helped both in the passing and rushing game. Woodhead cuts down on the workload of the injury prone Mathews and also gives Rivers a legit threat out of the backfield.
If you don't think a couple players would make that much of a difference, consider this...the Chargers are 2-4 this year in games decided by 6 points or less and loss another game by 8. That's 5 games that could have been turned by one drive either way.
Still, unless they fix that secondary, the Chargers won't be serious contenders.
No comments:
Post a Comment