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Originally posted by Topcat
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Refs trying their best to help the other team win. They forgot this is Staley’s Chargers now :biggrin: -
Originally posted by Rugger05 View Post
Nice that coach called out ThePowderBlues.com at the very end. I think he's reading our board looking for advice(has chaincrusher on ignore of course) and it's been paying off.Comment
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And look at the sideline at the 31. Those are the ref’s feet. Bosa has a point. I know you can call holding on every play for most players, but game in and game out, season in and season out, he gets held on almost every play. It’s almost like opposing teams have decided that the refs won’t call it more than one time in ten so its worth itOriginally posted by CivilBolt View Post
TGLike, how am I a traitor? Your team are traitors.Comment
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I agree. It is ok to complain but hopefully he won’t do it in critical down as it may bail the other team out.Originally posted by Heatmiser View PostComment
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The Powder Blues, it was real. Yep. He's reading your posts. He's riding mine. :Beer1:Originally posted by RollingThunder View Post
It's going to take some getting used to have a coach who looks as young as the players.Comment
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Seniority system in the NFL is getting torn down with McVay and Staley (and the other young guns getting hired). Sometimes it works... Gruden was young when first hired, but you have guys like Lane Kiffen. Age is just a number though, who ever gets the job done is fine for me.Originally posted by Velo View Post
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I am surprised by Rountree's grade. I thought he played a decent game. The OL made a bunch of mistakes. I am curious about how they score the plays on which there was confusion between the OG and OT that left an unblocked pass rusher. How do they know which player was at fault?Originally posted by Topcat View PostComment
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Good point. PFF may be blaming some players for other players' mistakes...Originally posted by chaincrusher View Post
Aside from a PFF reporter interviewing the players and asking them what happened, it's at best a guess, unless PFF has a copy of every team's playbook...Last edited by Topcat; 10-06-2021, 08:29 AM.Comment
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Except me! I was excited about him. Loved his work ethic and smarts.Originally posted by Heatmiser View Post
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How did you get to rural Illinois, Bolt brother? I've spent very little time there, but I have strong familial connections to that region.Originally posted by Lone Bolt View PostComment
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Popper’s immediate postgame thoughts:
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Chargersdefeated the Raiders, 28-14, on Monday night at SoFi Stadium. They improve to 3-1 and are in first place in the AFC West.
Here are my takeaways.
This is what great coaching looks like
All through the spring and summer, Brandon Staley impressed every time he stepped in front of a microphone. He spoke in a way few, if any, football coaches had ever spoken publicly. The breadth and depth of his attention to detail. How easily he distilled complex and layered topics into understandable and digestible tidbits. He said he had been preparing for this job his whole life, and, at least in his media appearances, it showed, day after day and week after week and month after month.
But would it translate to the field? Plenty of coaches had won news conferences then turned into disasters once games got underway.
Staley has answered that question unequivocally through his four games. He is a damn good football coach. And with Staley at the helm, the Chargers will contend for division titles and, eventually, Super Bowls for years to come. I do not need to see any more to know this is true.
Staley coached a perfect game Monday night. For the second straight week, he put together a masterful defensive game plan that his players executed with precision. For the second straight week, he made smart, sound, aggressive decisions that directly led to a victory. And for the second straight week, his team responded when the game seemed to be slipping away, snatching control, doing what so many Chargers teams of yesteryear failed to do: closing out a win with key plays in crucial moments.
These Chargers are different. Staley is building something truly special in Los Angeles. His team is unified. He trusts his players, and they trust him right back.
“There’s a team of guys in there that have really bought into what he’s teaching,” Joey Bosa said. “We feel like he’s just part of us, and we’re all playing for each other.”
I want to focus on two decisions that helped flip this game Monday night.
Late in the first half, the Chargers led 14-0 when Raiders quarterback Derek Carr handed off to running back Josh Jacobs on a dive play on third-and-1. Defensive lineman Linval Joseph shed his block and corralled Jacobs, driving him to the turf. The referees initially gave Jacobs the first down. But Staley challenged the spot. He credited offensive assistant Dan Shamash for seeing the replay quickly and relaying the information from the coaches’ box.
Staley won the challenge. The Raiders punted. The Chargers scored a touchdown on their ensuing drive, in the two-minute drill, when Justin Herbert found Austin Ekeler on a wheel route from 14 yards out. They took a 21-0 lead into the half, and that insurance score was crucial when the Raiders responded out of the break with 14 straight points.
Later, the Chargers were clinging to a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson had just missed a 52-yard field goal, and the Chargers took over from their own 42-yard line with 10:38 left in regulation. After two runs, Herbert faced a third-and-2 from midfield. Keenan Allen got open on a short hook route to the left side, but he could not handle the throw from Herbert.
Staley kept his offense on the field for fourth-and-2. He had an inkling that Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley would call man coverage on the play to deny the ball. And he was right. The Chargers set up with three receivers to the left — tight end Jared Cook in the slot, Allen wide, and Jalen Guyton just inside Allen. As Herbert got to the line of scrimmage, he sent Allen on a short motion inside of Guyton. Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson moved with Allen, indicating man coverage. That meant Cook was one-on-one with linebacker Denzel Perryman, a former Charger.
“We knew what it was immediately,” Cook said. “We had the perfect play on.”
Herbert took the shotgun snap. Cook delayed before running a wheel route underneath Allen and Guyton — using the two receivers, who ran in-breakers, as a natural pick. Herbert lofted a throw to the 6-foot-5 Cook, over the head of the smaller Perryman. First down Chargers. They scored a touchdown six plays later, an 11-yard Ekeler run, to make it a two-touchdown game.
“That’s a lot of trust,” Cook said of Staley’s decision to go for it. “It really is.”
“It’s awesome that he believes in us,” Herbert said, “because everyone in the huddle believes in each other.”
Staley said he has “full trust” in Herbert on those fourth downs.
“That’s what he earns on a day-to-day basis with how hard he works and how he prepares, and then how well he performs in those got-to-have-it situations,” Staley said. “And he’s got that cool, calm composure that affects everybody in a positive way, including me.”
NFL games are won at the margins. Head coaches only get so many of these paramount decisions in a game. It is easy to play it conservative. It is much harder to be aggressive.
Staley has proven he will not shy away from playing to win. And that mentality is trickling down to all facets of his team.
“In years past, you come in at halftime with a lead, and I’m like, ‘Oh God. What are we gonna do this time to screw this up?’” Bosa said. “I’m sorry, but it’s how my mind works because it’s just happened so many times. … I think we’re just coming together as a team. We believe in each other and we believe in the coaching.”
“It’s a new year. It doesn’t always have to be the same,” Bosa added. “We’re moving in the right direction. I think that (with) the right pieces that we’ve brought in, especially Coach Staley and everybody else that came with him, we’re just going to keep moving in that right direction.”
The Chargers have an elite defense
Through three weeks, the Raiders had the top offense in football. They were averaging the most yards per game of any offense in the league at close to 500 yards.
The Chargers dominated Carr and his group Monday night. Plain and simple. They held the Raiders to just 14 points and 213 yards of total offense. The Raiders had just 51 yards on 24 plays in the first half.
This came down to two major developments:
1. The Chargers played outstanding run defense.
2. They got pressure on Carr early and disrupted the Raiders’ offensive rhythm.
The Chargers run defense had been shaky through the first three weeks of the season. They entered this game ranked 31st in rushing defense DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency metric.
The defensive line and linebackers came to play in this prime-time showdown. The Raiders finished with just 48 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Jacobs, who was questionable for this game, had 40 yards on 13 carries. All across the front, the Chargers played with physicality. They tackled well. Christian Covington, Jerry Tillery and Joseph set the tone at the point of attack. Kyzir White was one of the best players on the field. The Raiders wanted to run the ball. They failed.
“We were committed to that part of the game,” Staley said, “and I felt like our first level was outstanding tonight.”
The Chargers forced the Raiders into three straight three-and-outs to begin the game. Las Vegas then turned the ball over on downs on its fourth possession. The Raiders only gained one first down in the first half.
Bosa ended the second possession with a third-down strip-sack, taking advantage of a one-on-one against rookie right tackle Alex Leatherwood. Tillery had a first-down sack on the third possession that set the Raiders behind the sticks. Drue Tranquill came free on a blitz on second down on the fifth possession, forcing an incompletion. Kyler Fackrell nearly picked off a screen pass on the Raiders’ final possession of the half.
Carr was rattled.
“We knew once we hit him a few times, he really gets shook,” Bosa said.
The Raiders responded in the third quarter. Carr led two touchdown drives. Both of them were spurred by penalties. On the first, Nasir Adderley was called for a late hit. On the second, Asante Samuel Jr. was called for a 45-yard pass interference. Carr had to complete passes on third downs to cap each touchdown drive. Staley was happy with the coverage on those plays. He said the rush “wasn’t quite good enough,” which gave Carr time to step up in the pocket. He found Hunter Renfrow for the first touchdown and Darren Waller on the second.
Las Vegas then looked poised to tie the game. Trailing 21-14, Carr found Henry Ruggs IIIfor a 51-yard gain on the opening play of their first drive of the fourth quarter. Ruggs beat Derwin James deep.
“4.2 speed got up on me a little bit,” James said.
But on a third-and-3 from inside field-goal range, Covington got free on an inside stunt and buried Carr for a sack. That pushed the Raiders back 6 yards and led to Carlson’s missed kick.
“You saw on CC’s sack, he was pretty much curling into a ball before we even got back there,” Bosa said of Carr. “So great dude, great player, he’s been having a great year. But we know once you get pressure on him, he kind of shuts down and he’s not as effective with a crowded pocket. So that was the key.”
James then intercepted Carr on the next Raiders possession, after Ekeler’s touchdown run, while in man coverage on Waller.
“It was appropriate that he finished the game,” Staley said of James.
“We’re a complete team,” James said. “When the offense feels like they need a lift, the defense lifts them. When the defense feels like they need a lift, the offense will give us a touchdown. Special teams will pin them deep. So I would just say we’re becoming a complete team. It’s not one side of the ball just dominating. … Now we’re playing as a team, and we’re playing more connected, and we can see how we feed off each other.”
Run game gets going
The Chargers invested heavily in their offensive line this offseason. They signed three starters in free agency and drafted a starting left tackle in the first round. On Monday night, we saw what kind of impact that group can make in the running game.
The Chargers finished with a season-high 168 rushing yards on 34 carries. Ekeler set a career high with 117 rushing yards. It was only the second time in his career he hit the century mark on the ground. Ekeler averaged 7.8 yards per carry.
And most of that damage came on the left side behind center Corey Linsley, left guard Matt Feiler and left tackle Rashawn Slater.
“Our guys came off the ball tonight, and I was excited about that,” Staley said.
On their final touchdown drive, Ekeler and rookie Larry Rountree combined for 35 yards rushing on six carries. Ekeler, of course, capped the drive off with his 11-yard run.
“The physicality in the game showed up late in the game,” Staley said.
We all know what Herbert and this passing attack is capable of. Adding in a consistent rushing attack can take this offense to another level.
News and notes
• Bosa was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty just before James’ interception in the fourth quarter. He felt like he was held on the play and made that known to the referees. After the game, Bosa unloaded on the officials. “The refs are blind. I’m sorry, but you’re blind. Like, open your eyes and do your job. It’s so bad. It’s unbelievable,” Bosa said. “These guys have got to do a better job, because it’s been years of terrible, terrible missed calls left and right. It’s really pathetic, honestly.”
• The Chargers scored touchdowns on four of their five red-zone drives and are now 8-for-10 on red-zone drives over the last two weeks. The only red-zone possession that the Chargers did not score on Monday night was the kneel down to end the game. “We’ve got too many weapons to not score in the red zone,” Herbert said.
• The Chargers’ tight ends — Cook, Donald Parham and Stephen Anderson — combined for 121 yards receiving and two touchdowns on nine catches. Cook and Parham both caught red-zone touchdowns.
• The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes because of lightning. Said Bosa: “We kind of took it as a good sign for the Bolts. “
• The crowd at SoFi Stadium was noticeably pro-Raiders. Herbert, at times, had to cover the earholes of his helmet to hear the play calls from offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. “You have to have poise in the noise,” Cook said. Bosa was asked about the crowd after the game. “It was great to hear them quiet, yeah,” he said. “They weren’t making much noise at the end of the game.”Comment
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