Chargers games frequently make people tired, so the weariness pervading the fanbase after Sunday’s win over Chicago came as no surprise. What did was the way in which Los Angeles cast the spell: normally the exhaustion is borne out of frustration with a team incapable of keeping their foot on the gas. Sunday’s contest was sleepy because the wire-to-wire victory was defined by a complete performance that left no room for typical Chargers shenanigans.
Here’s what to take away from the win.
It's nice to be normal
There was almost never a point at which it felt like LA was going to lose this game. Almost never, because the first play of the game was a 41 yard deep shot to Bears receiver Darnell Mooney that threatened to make things very scary early on. But the Chargers forced Chicago to go three and out after the big play and marched down the field for a touchdown. The Bears went three and out on the following drive and LA responded with another touchdown. A Tyson Bagent interception led to a field goal, and the 17 point cushion proved to be all that was needed.
Overall, it looked like the Chargers were the much better team on Sunday night. Because they were! Justin Herbert threw only 9 incompletions, Austin Ekeler had 123 yards from scrimmage, and Keenan Allen had eight receptions. Derwin James had an interception and a penalty-free game and Joey Bosa had a sack. LA’s stars played like stars, all at once, and it led to the most complete Chargers win in recent memory.
That’s partly what lulled fans to sleep by the second half – talented teams like the Chargers have games like this, where their stars overwhelm an inferior squad. It’s just shocking to see it from Los Angeles. Pleasant, but shocking.
Elevated edge play
Joey Bosa came off the injury report this week after working through a hamstring issue and a broken toe. While he played through both ailments, he clearly wasn’t playing to the level fans have come to expect of the former #3 overall pick.
Well, it appears that Bosa is not only healthy, but he heard the criticism. The 2016 Defensive Rookie of the Year had arguably his best game of the season on Sunday, bulldozing Bears guard Cody Whitehair for a sack on the first drive and adding another QB hit as a rusher. In the run game, Bosa had a stop on fourth down and multiple backside pursuits that nullified Chicago’s plan of attack.
Khalil Mack had an equally impactful game against the run even if the box score didn’t show it. Mack also sniffed out a Bears trick play in the red zone, running with Bagent up the sideline on a wide receiver pass that Darnell Mooney had to tuck and run instead. Rookie Tuli Tuipulotu added just one tackle but was active in the pile when Bears running back Roschon Johnson fumbled. Chris Rumph stonewalled D’Onta Foreman on a 3rd and 2 that led to Asante Samuel’s not-quite interception on fourth down.
Bosa rounding back into form with Mack and Tuipulotu playing the way they have to start the season could be a game-changer for a Chargers defense that has already been massively improved against the run. But if teams have to block all three of them on pass downs, Los Angeles could finally get the pressure to help out their struggling secondary.
Quentin Johnston is alive
Johnston didn’t break the bank by any means on Sunday, finishing with 5 catches for 50 yards. But that still nearly doubled his output through six games, as he entered the game with 7 catches for 64 yards.
It took Joshua Palmer reinjuring his knee early in the second quarter, but the most encouraging thing about Johnston’s involvement was that the Chargers were putting him in positions to be successful for what felt like the first time all season. There were screens and shallow crosses designed to maximize his run after catch ability, which generated a 12 yard catch and run that included Johnston breaking three tackles. LA sent Johnston vertical, forcing the Bears to respect his downfield speed, before hitting him on back shoulder throws where he didn’t have to be Mike Williams to make the catch.
Los Angeles still has a long way to go to make their investment in Johnston worth the price of admission, but Sunday was a start. The rookie is clearly not built to be Williams’ replacement – that’s Palmer – and it felt like this game was the first time the Chargers made that admission. Working the ball to him in the ways that he can win reps is a welcome change.
Speed limit
Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room: the Bears are not very good. It’s nice that the Chargers took care of business against them, yes, but it probably doesn’t lend itself to any sort of large-scale conclusions about where this season is going.
Los Angeles struggled against two good teams – the Chiefs and Cowboys – immediately before this game. Conclusions about those two contests were probably also not reasonable, given that the reactions were largely that the Chargers’ season was essentially over. After this win, the easy thing to do is put Los Angeles back in playoff contention. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle: the Chargers are good enough to beat bad teams (except Tennessee, ignore those guys). They’re also not good enough to hang with the upper crust of contenders in the NFL consistently at this stage.
With games against the Jets, Packers, Patriots, Broncos, and Raiders upcoming, the Chargers have a number of bad to very bad teams that they can beat up on as long as they show up to play. But there are also games against the Lions, Ravens and Bills, ones that they’ll struggle with unless they hit on every cylinder. That’s the rollercoaster of watching the Chargers play football; until then it’s best to just enjoy a solid win.
