Cowboys @ Chargers Game Day Thread / Post Game Discussion

[chargeroo]

Just arrogance. Greg the Leg has the leg but I personally wouldn't put any kicker in position to have to kick a 57 harder to win a game.

McCarthy said because of the problem with the clock he didn't know how much time he had left. Had he known he would have run another play or two.

[chargeroo]

One of my favorite moves. Loved the warden's line - what we have here is a failure to communicate.

[dmac_bolt]

Those zebras should have just worn blue and silver shirts. Big bounce back this week in a game that means more, victory is in the air.

[normtalmbout]

McCarthy said because of the problem with the clock he didn't know how much time he had left. Had he known he would have run another play or two.

I heard that.....I'm not sure why the league or the refs didn't step in if there was a clock issue?

[Xenos]

Popper’s postgame thoughts:

https://theathletic.com/2836072/2021/09/20/takeaways-from-the-chargers-20-17-loss-to-the-cowboys-in-their-home-opener/

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Chargers fell to 1-1 with a 20-17 loss to the Cowboys at SoFi Stadium in their home opener Sunday.

Dallas kicker Greg Zuerlein hit a 56-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.

Here are my takeaways.


Too many penalties
The Chargers were called for 13 penalties, and 12 of them were accepted for 99 yards. The story of this game starts there.

The breakdown of the penalties:

• One defensive pass interference (Kyzir White)
• Three false starts (Keenan Allen, Joshua Palmer, Corey Linsley)
• One taunting (Allen)
• Three holds (Linsley, Jared Cook, Storm Norton)
• One offensive pass interference (Jalen Guyton)
• One facemask (Trey Pipkins)
• One ineligible man downfield (Oday Aboushi)
• One illegal shift (Cook and Mike Williams)
• One unsportsmanlike conduct (Cook, declined)

“We need to play a cleaner game technically,” coach Brandon Staley said. “And I know that we will. We’re going to put a lot of emphasis on it, as we always do. We’ll take a look at how this is being officiated and make sure that we respond accordingly. But most penalties happen because of technique, and that’s where we need to focus on the Chargers moving forward.”

There were a couple of relatively controversial penalties, so let’s dive into those first.

The first was the ineligible man downfield penalty on Aboushi, the right guard. This came on the opening drive of the second half. The Chargers ran a play-action boot to the right. Justin Herbert rolled out and fired a missile to Williams over the middle. The play went for 31 yards. Herbert’s pass went 42 yards without any arc. It was a remarkable throw. But it got called back.

The referees ruled that Aboushi, an ineligible receiver, was illegally downfield.

Here is what the rule says: “An ineligible offensive player is illegally downfield if … after losing contact with an opponent more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage, he continues to move toward his opponent’s goal line.”

As Herbert prepared to throw, Aboushi stepped ahead two yards in front of the line of scrimmage and attempted to engage Cowboys defensive end Bradlee Anae. Aboushi did not block Anae squarely and rolled off the defender. His momentum carried him forward, up the field.

Technically, this was the correct call.

Does this get called consistently league-wide on a snap-to-snap basis? That is a different question.

The second relatively controversial penalty came late in the game and had a huge impact on the result.

Trailing 17-14, the Chargers faced a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The offense approached the line of scrimmage in a spread shotgun formation — five offensive linemen, Larry Rountree split to the left of Herbert in the backfield, Cook wide left, Allen in the slot left, Williams wide right, and Guyton inside of Williams.

Right as the Chargers arrived at the line, Cook started motioning to the inside of Allen, off the shoulder of left tackle Rashawn Slater. As Cook was motioning, Williams adjusted his stance slightly, stepping backward. Williams eventually came fully set, but Cook was still moving slightly when Herbert took the snap. Herbert faked a handoff to Rountree, and Cook ran a rub route off of Allen’s back. He was open in the flat, and Herbert found him for a touchdown.

This was negated by the illegal shift penalty, called on Williams and Cook.

Here is what the rule states: “All offensive players are required to come to a complete stop and be in a set position simultaneously for at least one full second prior to the snap. Failure to do so is an Illegal Shift.”

This never happened because Williams adjusted his stance once Cook began his motion to the inside.

“We had, first of all, the team coming to the line of scrimmage to get set,” head official Tony Corrente said in a pool report. “And as the wide receiver on the offensive left side (Cook) began in motion, the offensive receiver on the right side (Williams) was still moving around. He was not in a set position. All 11 players have to be set simultaneously, at least for a second, before they can go into a shift, or they can go into motion. Well, what happened here was, this player went into motion without his whole team being fully set at that point. So, you had two receivers never reset to allow the formation to become legal.”

Again, by the book, this was a correct call. Staley said after the game that he never got an explanation from the officials.

“I was trying to get the referee’s attention,” Staley said, “and I was not given a response.”

This was one of two touchdowns the Chargers had called back because of penalties. The other came in the third quarter on a throw-back to Donald Parham on a leak route. Cook was called for a hold, and this one was blatant. Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Eschwon off the line against Cook, and Cook more or less tackled Vander Esch to the ground from behind.

It is really, really hard to win in the NFL when you commit that many penalties, especially on one side of the ball. Ten of the Chargers’ 12 penalties were offensive. There were some rather technical calls. But they were by the book.

“It felt like a preseason game, to be quite honest with you,” Staley said. “That was just the way the game was being officiated today. … We got to play within the parameters of how the game is being called, and we need to make sure we keep our composure. And then if we play a clean enough game, none of that will matter.”

Added Herbert: “It’s just an uphill battle when you have that many penalties.”


Porous run defense
The Chargers offense was hamstrung by penalties. The defense, meanwhile, had an abysmal showing against the run.

The Cowboys finished with 198 yards rushing on 31 carries for a 6.4 yards-per-carry average. Tony Pollard totaled 109 yards on just 13 carries. Ezekiel Elliott added 71 yards on 16 carries. Led by right guard Zack Martin, who made his season debut Sunday, Dallas was getting whatever it wanted on the ground.

Martin was manhandling the interior of the Chargers’ defensive front — Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, Christian Covington, Eric Banksand Joe Gaziano. The linebackers and corners, including Kenneth Murray and Michael Davis, did not tackle well enough.

The Cowboys should have probably rushed for more than 198 yards, but some peculiar play calling stunted a couple drives.

“We were just a little bit off in the first level, which caused our second level to be a little bit off,” Staley said. “We have to play more physical at the point of attack so the ball doesn’t get to the second level as often as it did. And then when the ball does get to the second level, we have to be where we need to be and we need to tackle. We need to tackle physically.”

The Chargers missed Justin Jones dearly. Defensive line depth was a huge concern entering this season. With Jones out, that depth was exposed.

“It was execution,” Staley said. “We were in a lot of good run defenses from a personnel standpoint and a structure standpoint. But we were just a little bit off — a little bit off with our front mechanics, a little bit off with our run fits. And we gave up far too many today.”

I will have more on this once I watch the tape. This was an ugly performance.


Justin Herbert’s day
Herbert threw two interceptions, and some may look at the final stat line and ask whether the Chargers’ star quarterback is regressing.

I can answer that: He is not.

I thought Herbert played great. With Norton playing in place of the injured Bryan Bulaga, Herbert was under significantly more pressure than he was last week against Washington, and he handled it well. The Cowboys got only two sacks — one of which came when the refs ruled that Herbert’s forward progress had been stopped in the red zone in the fourth quarter. Limiting Dallas to that many sacks given the amount of pressure is a testament to Herbert’s escapability, pocket feel and athleticism.

He escaped pressure and scrambled for a first down on a third-and-4 late in the first half. He escaped pressure in the first quarter — after Norton and Aboushi were beat on a stunt — and found Allen for a first down. He escaped pressure on a third-and-15 in the second quarter and converted a first down to Williams.

When the Chargers went with six- and seven-man protections to give their quarterback more time, Herbert made plays. He hit Allen for a 42-yard gain early in the third quarter when Cook stayed in pass protection to help Norton on the right side.

The Chargers were in this game because of Herbert. Plain and simple.

“Justin Herbert was outstanding,” Staley said. “He was the best player on the field.”

The first interception, on the opening drive of the game, was just a fantastic play by Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, who jumped in front of an Allen out route. On the second interception, in the red zone in the third quarter, Allen fell down on his route. That pick was not on Herbert.


Storm Norton exposed
With the Cowboys’ two starting defensive ends out — DeMarcus Lawrence (broken foot) and Randy Gregory (reserve/COVID-19 list) — Dallas moved first-round pick Micah Parsonsfrom linebacker to end.

Parsons lined up over the right tackle for most of the game and had his way with Norton.

Norton played well last week when he replaced Bulaga for the second half against Washington. But he struggled Sunday against the Cowboys. We will see what the final pressure numbers are for Norton, but it will not be pretty. Most of the protection issues stemmed from Norton’s performance.

“I felt like he competed in the game,” Staley said of Norton. “There was some times out there where he was going against Micah Parsons, who’s a good player. And he had some that I felt like he can learn from for sure. But I felt like he gave us a chance in the game.”

“Storm Norton battled through a lot of adversity,” Herbert said.


News and notes
• Despite the Cowboys playing a third-string right tackle in Terence Steele, Joey Bosa was largely mitigated in this game. By my count, he only had one pressure, and that came on a blitz early in the second half. Staley said Bosa’s showing was less about Dallas’ protection plan and more about their success running the ball. The strong rushing attack put the Cowboys in manageable third-down situations and helped them avoid clear pass-rushing situations.

• After receiving no targets in the season opener, Austin Ekeler caught nine passes on nine targets for 61 yards. The added pressure led to more checkdowns from Herbert. The Chargers also got Ekeler more involved in designed passing plays with the running back lined up at receiver. He made a spectacular one-handed catch on a 20-yard pass after a smooth double move out of the slot late in the third quarter.

• Edge rusher Kyler Fackrell had the defensive play of the day, beating standout left tackle Tyron Smith one-on-one for a sack-fumble with a crafty move early in the fourth quarter. This came on third down and forced the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.

• With Chris Harris inactive because of a shoulder injury, Derwin James spent most of Sunday’s game defending the slot. He was at safety in base packages. When the Chargers brought on a fifth defensive back, Alohi Gilman came on at safety and James moved to the slot. When the Chargers brought on a sixth defensive back, James moved to dime backer — or money, a hybrid safety-linebacker position — and Kemon Hall came on to defend the slot.

• Williams had another standout performance with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Williams leads the Chargers with 15 catches on the season.

[cmplxgal]

[cmplxgal]

[like54ninjas]

Popper’s postgame thoughts:
https://theathletic.com/2836072/2021...r-home-opener/

Good recap by Popper.
Always appreciate you posting these articles.

[Biggestfan]

A loss sucks but if youre gonna lose best it be against a non conference team

[like54ninjas]

Thought it was more.

[Biggestfan]

Thought it was more.

It sure felt like it. Dallas starting ends were out mind you

[jamrock]

Thought it was more.

Doesn’t include a couple of run plays where Parsons abused Norton