Things I liked from today's game.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Gosh...Wright was asked to cover DeSean Jackson - arguably one of the more dangerous players in the game - all by himself for most of the game. Even when he got deep help (once, that I remember) Gilchrist was about 2 second too late getting over there.

Muffews...sigh...such a talent, such a waste.

Funny, I think Gates has looked better this year so far than he has in the last three. He's moving well, making some people miss, getting some nice YAC. He'll, he had over 100 yards receiving today, despite the one drop. The fumble (which you call a "drop"?)' well, kinda hard to fault him on that one, IMO. He juked a couple of Eagles out of their jocks, got off balance, his arm came away from his body, and the CB made a good chop move to knock the ball loose.

As for Fozzy's fumble, I'll just call on the ghost of Lefty Gomez on that one.

Of course Jackson is a tough assignment. And in the game thread I addressed the lack of safety help he was getting. I'd have to go back and look at the tape but I dont recall a single play he made on Jackson. You'd think there would be at least one in the course of the game. Not an encouraging performance. On a weekly basis he's likely to draw tough assignments.

Fumbling the ball at the one is bad, no matter who does it or the circumstances. We're lucky to have overcome it.

Gates' movements look about the sane to me. If you pressed me on it, I might concur with you. But we've heard the same thing at the beginning of the year in recent seasons. But that has nothing to do with what I'm seeing. In the last couple years he's dropped more balls than I remember in the past, when he was automatic.

Stuckey deserves a game ball, btw. That fumble could've ended the day for us. Nearly did. Big play by Stuckey to give us a chance.

[LV Bolt Fan]

No you don't. You don't even have a clue.

Oh, I have a clue.
Rinse, Lather, Repeat. :uplol:

[QSmokey]

Oh, I have a clue.
Rinse, Lather, Repeat. :uplol:

Yup. Clueless.

[blueman]

I liked Mathews converting a tough third down on our last drive, knew we'd won the game with that play.

[MiddleMan]

One thing I really enjoyed seeing was the camera panning over to the sidelines and seeing a confident and competent coaching staff hard at work.

[Beerman]

San Diego Chargers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Success & Stop Rates

By Richard Wade @RichardWade on Sep 16 2013, 3:30p

We take a look at Sunday morning's victory through the lens of Football Outsiders' advanced football statistics.

or those unfamiliar with Football Outsiders' success and stop rates, we'll begin with a quick refresher course. A successful play is one that gains 45% or more of the needed yards on 1st down, 60% or more of the needed yards on 2nd down, and 100% or more of the needed yards on 3rd/4th down. A stop is preventing the offense from gaining those yards.

Offense

The thing that stands out is just how much better the Chargers were throwing the football than they were running it. This stayed consistent from last week's game against the Texans. Part of that is the personnel, and part of it is the scheme and general game plan. On the personnel side of it, the unit's best players, Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd,are more present in the passing game, so that's just more likely to be more successful. Also, Ryan Mathews is not great at breaking long runs. He is, however, quite good at avoiding negative plays. This shows up in the fact that they have better success on short yardage than on 1st & 10 running the football.

On the scheme/gameplan side, there are more design runs that are essentially successful without meeting the definition of "successful." That seems backwards, but understand that a four yard run on 1st down is essentially successful, but it is not a "success" statistically speaking. Also, sometimes you'll run just to keep the clock moving or to set up a field goal on the preferred hash mark.

Just how good was Philip Rivers? 60.8% success throwing the football despite four dropped passes and a big gainer that was fumbled by the goal line. That's lights out.

Game 1st Down 2nd Down 3rd Down

Pass 60.8% 65.2% 46.7% 69.2%

Run 37.9% 37.5% 36.4% 50.0%

Overall 52.5% 53.8% 42.3% 66.7%

Defense

The defense basically broke even through the first half. They seemed to wear down or simply have their shortcomings exploited a bit more in the second half. Luckily, things didn't get so lopsided that it was enough to give the game away. They got away with a number of blown coverages, but that appears to have been a calculated risk by the defensive coordinator based on the weaknesses of Michael Vick. Unlike past seasons, 3rd down defense remains a strength through two weeks, especially against the pass. We'll call that the Dwight Freeney effect. He's a Hall of Famer, and he's showing you why each and every week. Jarius Wynn also showed up surprisingly big in this game. The D will need guys like that to step up, especially since this was an ugly game for stars like Corey Liuget, Kendall Reyes,and Eric Weddle (if you ignore his excellent blitzing and focus on everything else).

Game 1st Down 2nd Down 3rd Down

Pass 47.6% 43.5% 41.7% 71.4%

Run 43.8% 66.7% 33.3% 25.0%

Overall 46.6% 48.3% 38.9% 54.5%

[captaind]

We LUCKED OUT on Foswhitt's fumble.

It was a nice change of pace to see a ball bounce our way for a change. Plus we got 21 extra yards out of it.