The Chargers did not look very good in Week 3 to say the least. The team looked sloppy in every phase of the game. Whether it was lack of preparation or underestimating the opponent, this game did not go the way Chargers fans envisioned. To make matters worse, key starters were lost in this game due to injury.
First Half
The defense was on the field first and made a fourth down stop on the Jaguars opening drive. However, the Chargers offense came out lethargic with two three-and-outs to open the game. Chargers defense only gave up a field goal in spite of that. But two offensive turnovers on their own side of the field in the 2nd quarter put the defense in a bad position. The first was an interception off a bobbled pass from Sony Michel at the 5-yard line. On the following offensive drive, Justin Herbert takes a sack and fumbles the ball to give the Jags a short field inside the 30. These resulted in 10 points for Jacksonville and gave them a 13-0 lead.
The Chargers got some momentum on their next drive ending in a touchdown pass to Mike Williams. This cut the deficit to 13-7. The Chargers would trail the Jaguars 16-7 at the half
Second half
The opening drive of the second half looked promising at first. Justin Herbert made a crazy throw on 3rd & 16 to Jalen Guyton. A 54yd gain on a throw only few quarterbacks can make. It looked like the Chargers finally got the spark they needed. Unfortunately, they couldn’t end the drive with a TD and settled for a FG to make the score 16-10
Now that it was a one possession game, it was up to the defense to make another stop. On 4th & 1, the defense got gashed on a 51yd TD run by James Robinson to make the score 23-10. From this moment, the Jaguars had complete control. Jacksonville would continue to dominate time of possession while the Chargers offense remained stagnant. The Jags would go on to complete another scoring drive at the end of the third quarter. They had a successful 2pt conversion attempt on the same play used to score the touchdown.
The Chargers would be down 31-10 going into the fourth. It seemed like the Jags converted almost every third down they faced. The defense could not get off the field when it mattered most. Trevor Lawrence looked comfortable as he had a clean pocket to work with. Both James Robinson and Travis Etienne had holes to run through and took advantage.
By the next time the Chargers offense saw the field, they were down 38-10 with under 5 minutes to go. Justin Herbert stayed in despite the game being out of reach. Brandon Staley had a lot of questions to answer. At this point, the coach has the final say and should’ve taken Herbert out of the game.
Losing the Locker Room Already??!!
Only week three and the locker room is falling apart. Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler were the only team captains available to address the media after the game. It also seems that players are not fully bought in to Staley’s messaging via Brentley Weissman. Drue Tranquill stated the loss was embarrassing per Lindsey Thiry. Furthermore, she asked Tranquill what Staley said postgame and he stated it was player-led by Sebastian Joseph-Day. Below is a tweet in regards to internal issues that may have been escalated after this loss.
Going to get real interesting inside the #Chargers building this week. Had already heard about some rumblings regarding team leadership and players not having buy in with the staffs messaging. Losing like this won’t help that.
— Brentley Weissman (@Brentley12) September 25, 2022
Chargers have a lot of work to do on and off the field now. Another loss like this could put the entire coaching staff in question.
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
