What it will take to beat the Chargers

Quick scouting report on the Chargers and what it will take to beat them.

THEIR STRENGTHS

• Outstanding young QB in Justin Herbert. He has started 16 games in his career, going 7-9. Great accuracy as evidenced by his career 32 TDs vs 11 INTs. He’s big and mobile and has shown he’s not intimidated by anything. Can pass and run, so containing him and pressuring him are important.
• WRs- Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are outstanding. Jalen Guyton, their 3rd receiver is a drop down but as a whole this is a top 10 group. Allen has had back to back seasons of 100 or more receptions. Mike Williams is no slouch, averaging over 80 receptions the last two seasons.
• T Rashawn Slater- Chargers #1 pick this year has solidified their OL. Has already shown flashes of ALL PRO level talent.
• Pass Rush- Edge rusher Joey Bosa has 48.5 career sacks in 5 seasons. The other Edge guy is Nuchenna Nuwosa, a third year player who has 10 sacks in his first two years.
  
• Safeties- Derwin James is an ALL PRO safety and Nasir Adderley is a young up and coming safety. James is great in coverage as well as stuffing the run when in the box. They dare you to run the ball because they often play deep because of their range.

WEAKNESSES

• Not much of a running game- RBs Austin Eckler and Justin Jackson aren’t anything special. Last year, they averaged only a little over 100 yards a game. Last week against Wash, they had 90 yds rushing.
• Stopping the run- they aren’t terrible. But if you can establish the run on them, they don’t have great LBs which can set up play action passing.
• Overall Defense was 23rd last year- they were without Derwin James last year, and their D stats showed it. They have a great pass rusher in Bosa but other than Bosa and James, their D is just average.

KEYS TO BEATING THE CHARGERS

• Establish the running game- Zeke and Pollard must be able to be a real threat, especially early. You can run on the Chargers. If we can run on them, we should win.
  
• Avoid long third down situations- That’s always true every game but especially against the Chargers where Bosa is deadly as a pass rusher on 3rd and long.
  
• Contain Justin Herbert in the pocket- he doesn’t run much, but he did have 5 rushing TDs last year. And he can pass well on the move.
• Put Trayvon Diggs on Keenan Allen- Containing Allen will be a huge key. The Chargers like to move him around a lot to isolate him in multiple coverage situations.
• Help Steele a lot- Steele cannot handle anybody- much less Bosa alone. He will need lots of help.
• Score early- we cannot get behind early forcing the running game to the curb.

Let’s go Cowboys!

I'm thinking scoring more points than they do will go a long way towards helping us win.

Rashawn Slater is going to be a problem. Herberts going to time to pick us apart.

This is a very complicated game, especially with all of the players missing for Dallas. The chargers are going to score and they are going to score a lot. The only way Dallas is going to win this game is in a shootout. That will require them to manage the game appropriately down the stretch which they have proven they aren’t very good at doing. I feel confident Dallas will win the turnover battle, which will help , but will that be enough?

1. Swing tackle cannot be a problem on Sunday.
2. It's a must that we generate pressure on Herbert.
3. Bones must fix the special teams.
4. Our secondary needs to tighten up a bit.
If we can do that I believe we break into the wind column this Sunday

This is going to be a very tough game. They are a playoff team IMO.

I expect to have a good team by mid to late season and take our shot from there.....

But I also didn't expect to win either of these first two games on the road.

Yes Herbert is outstanding and he has a lot of potential but at the end of the day he's a 2nd year QB who's still pretty raw I hope DQ can whip something up to confuse him and I expect Diggs to ball out with at least 1 INT

It'll take some young guys to drop their sack, nut up and play football!

Ekeler is a special receiver and capable of making big plays.

Do not sleep on that guy and think he’s a jag.

Pressure from the D-Line and get a run game going.

We will win a shootout i dont think Herbert can outduel Dak

We wont win a grind it out kind of game because those are the games where we make one mistake and give up a long TD drive then go 3 and out and give up another TD drive making it 27-17

pressure herbert.
score in the red zone.
turn-overs.

we do well in those 3 areas...we'll win.
i think our run game has a chance in this game to get featured and extend possessions.
chargers are good.
we're better.

Dallas 34
la 27

More action...less talk.

Go Cowboys!

dcstar said:

More action...less talk.

Go Cowboys!

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Amen to that.

Dumb answer, more points... but you make valid points Bob, to me the biggest will to get pressure on Herbert quickly and get hands up. Our DB's are not going to last long with their WR's.

Thanks for reminding me that the Chargers have Derwin James. I really wanted us to draft him!! But alas, my fantasy was destroyed!

CATCH17 said:

Ekeler is a special receiver and capable of making big plays.

Do not sleep on that guy and think he’s a jag.

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We have people using the term "journeyman" in reference to Herbert, which tells me our fans know little about the Chargers.

maryquality said:

Thanks for reminding me that the Chargers have Derwin James. I really wanted us to draft him!! But alas, my fantasy was destroyed!

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well we would have lost either Connor Williams OR Michael Gallup in addition to LVE if we really wanted Derwin James. so that was that.

maryquality said:

Thanks for reminding me that the Chargers have Derwin James. I really wanted us to draft him!! But alas, my fantasy was destroyed!

Click to expand...

I wanted him to. And I thought that we had made the trade up for him. Obviously we didnt lol. This team DOESNT VALUE SAFETY at all

I could say run the ball and control the game but I do not know if the OL is up to that.

I could say contain a very athletic Herbert in the pocket and rush him all game long but I do not know if the DL is up to that.

I could say play tight coverage on as good a WR tandem as there is in the league but I do not know if the secondary is up to that.

I could say have Prescott go toe to toe in a shootout and I do think he and his WR's are up to that.

I am picking the Chargers in this game for one reason, the intangibles.

Unless you follow college football closely, and specifically the Pac 12, you don't know about Justin Herbert. At one time, Trevor Lawrence was second to him.

Justin Herbert, Kennan Allen and even Joey Bosa have for the most part been lights under baskets. They're considered "that other team" in their home market.

They play in the AFC West with the Chiefs and the Raiders and Broncos won their openers as well so the West might just be the best in both conferences.

So, what is this intangible I speak of? Respect, they're the Rodney Dangerfield's of the NFL, they've replaced the Browns.

Come Sunday, they open in their 5B palace and who do they play? None other than the ratings champ of the NFL in the game of the week and their chance to announce they have arrived is at hand. I do not believe they will miss this opportunity. They want to let the home crowd know there is another, and just as good, NFL team that plays here. Just as they want to announce that a new contender, just like BUF and CLE, has arrived and they've got their own young gun and he's just as good as the others.

The Cowboys have nothing to prove and every convenient reason to lose with the missing players and the Chargers have everything to prove. And that begins with beating the Cowboys on the big stage and announcing not that we are coming but that we are here. These Chargers might be last year's Bills.