Nobody in the Chargers fanbase would blame you if you had forgotten what normal football looked like after the first few weeks of the season. But on LA’s first drive on Sunday night, the offense looked surprisingly normal.
So normal, in fact, that it ended with an Austin Ekeler receiving touchdown, a hallmark of Chargers football games over the better part of the last decade. Yet, this was Ekeler’s first receiving touchdown of the season.
With 2nd and 6 on the Bears 39, on their tenth play of the drive, Justin Herbert faked a handoff to Ekeler, who slipped out wide. Herbert delivered a screen to the back, who had blockers in front and one defender to make miss. The rest was a footrace to the end zone, which Ekeler won to put the Chargers up 7-0.
austin ekeler for siiiiixxxxxxxx
📺: @snfonnbc pic.twitter.com/73EckqpumP
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 30, 2023