Chargers at Cardinals Game Day Thread (Wk 7)| Post Game Discussion

[Riverwalk]

I get why people are disappointed about the losing a winnable game like that, but there was some freaky shit going on with the ball early and with the refs late ALL of which went Arizona's way...

I actually take a lot of positives out of this game, Herbert is starting to get in rhythm, he's starting to look more comfortable in the offense the last two weeks and it's happened despite massive disruption to his receiving corps, you guys will say that he faced a shitty defense, but he had his highest passing output of the season two weeks in a row and last week they played a strong Denver defense...

I'm confident that the defense will bounce back, they lost some mojo this week in tackling and mental errors but they are missing some guys on the back end and two 5th round rookies seeing a lot of playing time too, alohi and derwin both made mistakes in coverage too, even though they still managed to keep Arizona under 20 points, I think the guys would agree that they played their worst game of the year...

I think you have to consider the opponent. Arizona has a bad defense and most of the time they didn’t blitz Herbert giving him much longer to pass than he had versus Chiefs and Pittsburgh.

Imo, you can’t take a game like the Panthers or Arizona and say Herbert has figured it out.

We scored 15 points.

Packers scored 34
Commanders 42
Bills 34

49ers and Lions both score 20 or more which would have been enough offense to win.

Only Rams scored less. 5 out of 7 of their opponents scored more than Herbert’s best production this year.

[SDBORN]

I feel like you're not even reading what I'm posting. Let me break it down for you.

Short term: I doubt Hortiz is going to do anything earth shattering. Maybe he brings in a guy like MW or a retread TE — though I kinda doubt it. If he does, that will help the Bolts incrementally, but it won't turn the team into a contender.

Long term: A guy like MW or a retread TE will only marginally improve the team going forward. For us to get to the next level, we need a legit WR1— a dude that can take the top off the secondary — and a sure-handed, reliable TE1.

Forgive me but for some reason I read that as retarded at first lol, I've been a Charger fan for too long

[SDBORN]

Herbert played very well. What WRs to throw to? 350 yards to that cast is pretty damn good. He has to make very good throws with no dynamic weapons and he rarely turns the ball over.

Sadly yards don't win games. Herbert was doing all he could, the receivers didn't do him any favors yesterday.

[SDBORN]

I think you have to consider the opponent. Arizona has a bad defense and most of the time they didn’t blitz Herbert giving him much longer to pass than he had versus Chiefs and Pittsburgh.

Imo, you can’t take a game like the Panthers or Arizona and say Herbert has figured it out.

We scored 15 points.

Packers scored 34
Commanders 42
Bills 34

49ers and Lions both score 20 or more which would have been enough offense to win.

Only Rams scored less. 5 out of 7 of their opponents scored more than Herbert’s best production this year.

It's hard to score when receivers fail to catch/hold the ball to be fair.

[floydefisher]

They were well under the cap when they traded him. They saved that money in cutting Mike and reducing Joey (should have traded him) and Mack. They traded him for cap space, so they could sign role players. image.png
Link

And how do know for sure none of that restructuring would have happened had they did not see the handwriting on the wall after Allen was traded, and Williams had been cut?

Look, the salary cap is the reality of the NFL. Telesco mismanaged it and left a mess. He's the problem, not a guy who knows his days are numbered and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires.

Why do you think he was canned in the first place?

[Budsman]

Except he saddled Herbert with a castrated receiving corps. You can't build a passing game around Will Dissly.

[Fouts2herbert]

Herbert played very well. What WRs to throw to? 350 yards to that cast is pretty damn good. He has to make very good throws with no dynamic weapons and he rarely turns the ball over.

Herbert was splendid, very efficient, the stats show 12 incompletions but 5 of them were in the breadbasket and complete drops, yes he had 7 either thrown behind or over throws which I'm sure we'll hear about here...he's trying to make chicken salad outta chicken shit but he had no finishers out there last night, nobody to make something happen after the catch like QJ has shown or like Ekeler used to do, Ladd playing hurt and it showed but he still showed up, palmer playing hurt but HE still showed up, Fehoko playing hurt and he also had some big catches on third down conversions, I would've like to see more Stone, Dissly might be the best TE2 in the NFL, if we only had a TE1 it would be crazy cool...

[Budsman]

And how do know for sure none of that restructuring would have happened had they did not see the handwriting on the wall after Allen was traded, and Williams had been cut?

Look, the salary cap is the reality of the NFL. Telesco mismanaged it and left a mess. He's the problem, not a guy who knows his days are numbered and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires.

Why do you think he was canned in the first place?

Allen was the last one moved. They knew they had enough space to keep him. It was clearly a move to show that if you’re not on board then they get rid of you. Also we still have 7 mil over the cap…

I agree though TT sold out for 23 and I’m happy he’s gone. That and Hortiz mismanaging the team construction are not mutually exclusive.

[Fouts2herbert]

I think you have to consider the opponent. Arizona has a bad defense and most of the time they didn’t blitz Herbert giving him much longer to pass than he had versus Chiefs and Pittsburgh.

Imo, you can’t take a game like the Panthers or Arizona and say Herbert has figured it out.

We scored 15 points.

Packers scored 34
Commanders 42
Bills 34

49ers and Lions both score 20 or more which would have been enough offense to win.

Only Rams scored less. 5 out of 7 of their opponents scored more than Herbert’s best production this year.

Herbert needs weapons to draw blood in the red zone...we had zero finishers or playmakers on the offense last night and it showed...

[Duck of Death]

Lots of items to address after this game, but the two most concerning:

Tackling - It still amazes me how so many NFL Pros exhibit such poor tackling fundamentals. It’s something I have to warn my youth players about constantly (I.e. not to do what so many of these guys do). Coming in too high - you see it in every single game. Look, James Conner is 233 lbs - you aren’t going to bring him down by putting hands on his shoulder pads. The most powerful part of a body are the legs. If you wrap up or take out the legs, you stop the player. James Conner isn’t going to hurdle you at this stage in his career. I.E. GO LOWER!!

Lack of downfield threats - With QJ/DD/Chark out, and Ladd hobbled, AZ was content with loading the box and daring Herb to prove it deep. I mean, look how wide open they left Reagor on that early bomb - of course he proceeds to tuck the ball on the wrong side, exposing it to the incoming defender . Play action didn’t help because AZ was content with letting Dissly, Ladd & Palmer get their shallow yards. Stopping the run was priority #1 for the Cardinals & it worked beautifully for them. That is a huge concern going forward as opposing teams will look to do the same. I have my concerns about Chark (too skinny & gets dinged easily), but they absolutely need someone to step up & stretch the field. Because the blueprint has been shown.

[ChargingBolts]

I have been seeing Matlock get better and better each week, yesterday I saw ZERO Matlock, what's up with that?

[Fouts2herbert]

Lots of items to address after this game, but the two most concerning:

Tackling - It still amazes me how so many NFL Pros exhibit such poor tackling fundamentals. It’s something I have to warn my youth players about constantly (I.e. not to do what so many of these guys do). Coming in too high - you see it in every single game. Look, James Conner is 233 lbs - you aren’t going to bring him down by putting hands on his shoulder pads. The most powerful part of a body are the legs. If you wrap up or take out the legs, you stop the player. James Conner isn’t going to hurdle you at this stage in his career. I.E. GO LOWER!!

Lack of downfield threats - With QJ/DD/Chark out, and Ladd hobbled, AZ was content with loading the box and daring Herb to prove it deep. I mean, look how wide open they left Reagor on that early bomb - of course he proceeds to tuck the ball on the wrong side, exposing it to the incoming defender . Play action didn’t help because AZ was content with letting Dissly, Ladd & Palmer get their shallow yards. Stopping the run was priority #1 for the Cardinals & it worked beautifully for them. That is a huge concern going forward as opposing teams will look to do the same. I have my concerns about Chark (too skinny & gets dinged easily), but they absolutely need someone to step up & stretch the field. Because the blueprint has been shown.

Conner played possessed last night, he forced the fumble, caught passes for long gains, ran against our defense that has contained everyone else etc...he was the MVP of that game last night...

the cardinals don't win that game without Connor yesterday...