2021 Official Chargers Season Discusssion

[equivocation]

People have an overly rosy memory of the offense last year. We struggled in the red zone in 2020 and 2019 too.

There's been lots of fluky shit this year through two weeks. Lets see if they get it figured out. As far as moving the ball the offense is better this year. #1 in league in 3rd down conversion, #1 in league in avoiding 3 and out, #1 in league in average drive length.

[chargeroo]

I just finished watching the Dallas game again. Herbert is really special! I think the team has to shoot themselves in the foot to only score 18 per game with a QB like JH10.

Considering our receivers and the revamped OL and the fantastic passes Herbert throws we should easily score 30 per game. If they can hold down on the penalties this offense could be like Air Coryell.

[like54ninjas]

People have an overly rosy memory of the offense last year. We struggled in the red zone in 2020 and 2019 too.

There's been lots of fluky shit this year through two weeks. Lets see if they get it figured out. As far as moving the ball the offense is better this year. #1 in league in 3rd down conversion, #1 in league in avoiding 3 and out, #1 in league in average drive length.

Great information.
Thanks for posting quality takes.

[like54ninjas]

I just finished watching the Dallas game again. Herbert is really special! I think the team has to shoot themselves in the foot to only score 18 per game with a QB like JH10.

Considering our receivers and the revamped OL and the fantastic passes Herbert throws we should easily score 30 per game. If they can hold down on the penalties this offense could be like Air Coryell.

There are some execution mistakes that can/will get fixed.
New system that will take a few games to get bugs worked out.
We’ve played to uncommon NFC opponents early so W/L is not Conference or Division which KC is both.
I expect our best team performance on Sunday in all phases.
Clean up penalties, reduce turnovers, vastly increase Redzone TD results, execute situationally, and play emotionally intelligent.

[Xenos]

Popper’s breakdown of Tillery.

Full article below. Tillery improved in the 4th quarter. But consistency is the key

The Chargers struggled to stop the run in their loss to the Cowboys on Sunday. Dallas rushed for 198 yards on 31 carries, and coach Brandon Staley attributed the leaky defense to poor play from his front, in terms of technique and overall physicality.

Some of this stemmed from Justin Jones’ absence. Jones, who is one of the Chargers’ most consistent and physically imposing run defenders, missed the game with a calf injury. And the players in the defensive line rotation flatly did not perform. That includes Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, Christian Covington and, to a lesser degree, Eric Banks (eight snaps) and Joe Gaziano (11 snaps), who played sparingly.

Do not be mistaken: This was a group effort. The front players were regularly blown off the ball. The linebackers, especially Kenneth Murray, tackled poorly and failed to shed blocks on the second level. Joey Bosa had an uncharacteristic game. Cornerback Michael Davis missed an assignment on the edge early in the fourth quarter that led to a 23-yard gain.

I am not pinning this on any one player.

But I wanted to focus this week’s film review on Tillery, a former first-round pick whom Staley has spoken very highly of since he took the job in January.

The Chargers drafted Tillery with the 28th pick in 2019, hoping his height, length and athleticism would help him grow into a versatile and productive penetrating interior lineman in the NFL. Among defensive line prospects in 2019, Tillery ranked in the 97th percentile in height, 79th percentile in arm length and 82nd percentile in the 20-yard shuttle, according to MockDraftable. The measurables were there. And while Tillery has improved since a forgettable rookie year — which included a healthy scratch late in the season — he still is not playing like a first-round pick, even as he has transitioned into Staley’s new defensive scheme.

Tillery’s limitations as an interior front player showed up against the Cowboys. He caused some havoc as a pass rusher, finishing with three pressures and half a sack, which came on a blitz. But with Jones out, Tillery needed to step up against the run, and that did not happen.

We can start with this play at the 6:39 mark in the first quarter. Tillery is one-on-one with Cowboys RT Terence Steele, a former undrafted free agent who played a really good game.



Steele drove Tillery back before burying him into the turf.









The offensive line cleared a massive hole for Ezekiel Elliott, who gained 8 yards on the play. Linebacker Kyzir White also got blocked out of the play by tight end Dalton Schultz.

This was Tillery’s worst rep of the day. It did not look this bad on every snap. He also faced a lot of double-teams. But the common thread throughout the game was just a lack of physicality to stand up blocks. That resulted in a number of explosive and timely runs.

Cowboys right guard Zack Martin, a perennial All-Pro, was dominant. Here, Martin locked up Tillery and drove him back to clear a path for a 16-yard gain from Tony Pollard:









On the next play, left tackle Tyron Smith, a two-time All-Pro, moved Tillery 6 yards off the line of scrimmage on the backside to clear a cutback lane for Pollard.







Smith and Martin are excellent players, and even the best defensive linemen lose those battles sometimes. But Tillery’s struggles were not limited to those matchups.

On Elliott’s 5-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, Tillery faced a double-team against Steele and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle. They created the space for Elliott to reach the end zone.







Early in the third quarter, Tillery was one-on-one with Steele and was driven back 5 yards again before recovering to make the tackle on Elliott after a 6-yard gain.







On the final play of the third quarter, Tillery was double-teamed by Martin and center Tyler Biadasz on a 28-yard Pollard run. Biadasz then sealed off Murray.







The Cowboys knew they had a distinct advantage running at Tillery, and they kept going back at him.

I thought Tillery responded well in the fourth quarter, when the Chargers run defense improved overall. He had two really nice plays in a three-snap stretch.

On the first, he shed a block from Steele and clogged up the hole before dropping Pollard for a short gain.









On the second, he finally got the best of Martin one-on-one. This was really a remarkable play and a clear representation of Tillery’s potential. He tossed one of the best offensive linemen in football aside with a tremendous show of strength, then attacked the ball carrier for the tackle.













Tillery absolutely has the talent and capacity to be a great player. You cannot argue otherwise after seeing a play like that. But he needs to show more consistency.

He needs to bring this physicality every snap.

[TexanBeerlover]

I just finished watching the Dallas game again. Herbert is really special! I think the team has to shoot themselves in the foot to only score 18 per game with a QB like JH10.

Considering our receivers and the revamped OL and the fantastic passes Herbert throws we should easily score 30 per game. If they can hold down on the penalties this offense could be like Air Coryell.

I tried to watch it again but couldn’t get past the opening drive. It was riddled with no call penalties on the Cowboys, going after Bosa’s knees, holds not called on running plays, while Chargers gave up a 4th down stop because of late flag for phantom interference. Looked like Dallas was getting away with all kinds of physical bullying with no flags. It was, unwatchable for me so props to you for being able to withstand the one sided officiating.

[Boltjolt]

He’s on a rookie contract. Not much salary to get rid of.

If we trade him this year his 3.1 mil salary is a wash between dead money and cap saving being roughly the same, but next season we would save 2.05 mil and potentially get a better player at RT and lose the liability he is.

I'd call it a win.

[DragonIce]

Sunday's game was highly unusual in terms of the number of possessions. Because both teams had long methodical drives and there weren't many incompletions to stop the clock... we had only 7 possessions in the entire game! And we never punted!

7 Possessions
Int -Nice play by Cowboys' Diggs
FG
TD
FG - no good
FG
Int -Allen fell down
FG

-To summarize:
-5 of 7 drives we either scored or would have scored with good kick
-The refs gave us the business. 10 penalties against our offense

[Formula 21]

QB Rankings







Rank
6




Justin Herbert2021 stats: 2 games | 70.5 pct | 675 pass yds | 7.7 ypa | 2 pass TD | 3 INT | 11 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble


Herbert made five throws against Dallas that should be put in an exhibit in Canton on a continuous loop to show what's possible at the position. No quarterback makes third-and-10-plus look so routine, while no organization makes 12 penalties -- two of which overturned Herbert touchdowns -- feel so expected.

[Xenos]

If we trade him this year his 3.1 mil salary is a wash between dead money and cap saving being roughly the same, but next season we would save 2.05 mil and potentially get a better player at RT and lose the liability he is.

I'd call it a win.

I’m hoping that Staley can turn Tillery’s career around like he did with Floyd. Same thing with Adderly.

[Formula 21]

I’m hoping that Staley can turn Tillery’s career around like he did with Floyd. Same thing with Adderly.

Sigh.

I’m so disappointed. I had expectations that he’d be a quality player. Not any longer.

[jamrock]

Sunday's game was highly unusual in terms of the number of possessions. Because both teams had long methodical drives and there weren't many incompletions to stop the clock... we had only 7 possessions in the entire game! And we never punted!

7 Possessions
Int -Nice play by Cowboys' Diggs
FG
TD
FG - no good
FG
Int -Allen fell down
FG

-To summarize:
-5 of 7 drives we either scored or would have scored with good kick
-The refs gave us the business. 10 penalties against our offense

No punt officially but we did have a punt. Ty long got murdered