The Chargers lost to the Chiefs on Sunday night.
Before switching gears to this weekend’s matchup with the Cardinals, here are my final takeaways from the divisional bout.
Justin was just fine
There have been a lot of people on social media pointing to Justin Herbert as the reason the Chargers lost, and I could not disagree more.
Despite throwing an interception on the ensuing drive, Herbert engineered a 10-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer, giving Los Angeles a 27-23 lead. Further, on that same drive, he connected with Keenan Allen for a 46-yard play on 3rd-and-18.
He did his job. The defense did not when the team needed them to step up the most.
Herbert finished 23-of-30 for 280 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Herbert looked like his usual self. He threw the ball efficiently and pushed the ball downfield far more often than usual this season. Six of his passes went for over 15 yards.
For those who continuously say that Herbert is not clutch, he has nine fourth-quarter comeback wins in his career, which is two less than Patrick Mahomes, the same amount as Josh Allen, and five more than Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa.
Josh keeps making jumps
Mike Williams and Keenan Allen returned after dealing with their perspective injuries. Unfortunately, Williams’ time on the field was short-lived after aggravating his ankle in the first quarter on a toe-tap catch along the sideline.
Lose Williams. Insert Palmer.
Palmer made his presence known on the opening drive when he and Herbert connected for a 50-yard touchdown.
He did what he does best for the remainder of the game, consistently making himself open with great releases and routes, going on to finish with 106 yards, tying his previous high mark, which he posted in Week 9 against the Falcons.
Having Keenan back was key
Despite being on a pitch count, Allen being back on the field was a breath of fresh air for the offense. Herbert had been missing his safety blanket on third down, and that’s when Allen came up huge.
On 3rd-and-18, Allen ran along the right sideline, got a step on the defender at the last second, and made a full-extension grab to haul in the pass inside the Chiefs’ 20-yard line, eventually leading to Palmer’s second touchdown to regain the lead.
This came on the drive after he fumbled on a catch and run on a screen pass, so Allen made up for his mistake.
Allen played 44 snaps and caught five passes for 96 yards. His presence allowed the offense to open up, as evident from his 17-yard reception off of play-action on the very first offensive play. Most importantly, following the game, he said his hamstring felt fine and had no issues.
Staley is not the same
Brandon Staley was notorious for his aggressive decision-making on fourth-down situations in his first year as the Chargers’ head coach, but he’s been the polar opposite this season.
In this case, Staley’s decision to punt on 4th-and-inches from their own 34 in the third quarter was head-scratching. The Chiefs scored on their next possession to take a 23-20 lead.
Staley becoming more conservative on fourth down could be due to an inefficient running game, a belief that defense got better or special teams being the strongest unit.
But I’ve said this before: against the Chiefs, the best defense is offense. You can’t afford to put the ball in the hands of the best quarterback in the league, no matter what.
They did and paid for it.
Could not contain the beast
Many people thought the Chiefs losing Tyreek Hill would take a toll on their offense, but Travis Kelce said otherwise. Kelce finished with six catches for 115 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Kelce was matched up with Derwin James, who was in man coverage, on the final touchdown. That was the only reception James allowed to Kelce in the game.
Most of his production came against Asante Samuel Jr., who allowed three catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns and Kenneth Murray, who gave up a catch for 34 yards.
Kelce wreaked havoc on the Chargers’ defense, and that’s why we should have seen more of James on Kelce.
