The Los Angeles Chargers are in trouble after dropping their week two game to the Las Vegas Raiders . They suffered a devastating number of injuries to their tight end room among a laundry list of others and will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills in week three.
There were a handful of good performances against the Raiders, but ultimately, the dysfunctional offense could not get themselves together. Before diving into grades for each position group, let's identify a few individual positive performances.
The Chargers defensive line wreaked havoc in Las Vegas ' backfield. Ashton Jeanty was limited to just 2.4 yards per carry and actually had more yards after contact per carry at 2.57, indicating he was being hit in the backfield more often than not. Teair Tart was a menace and consistent thorn in the side of the Raiders offensive lie.
Tart, Dalvin Tomlinson , Jamaree Caldwell , Justin Eboigbe and rookie Nick Barrett all contributed and will be need going forward with Dalvin Tomlinson set to miss time due to injury
A week after starting the offense consistently with backed up field position , the kick return team looked competent, sustained blocks and returns were consistently beyond the 30 yards line. Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken also changed up the lineup of returners by adding running back Kimani Vidal to kick return in lieu of Derius Davis .
Justin Herbert still does not look comfortable in this offense but he tried to make it happen Sunday. Herbert, for the most part actually played pretty well given the circumstances, until a costly error where the ball was snapped on third and inches and hit the motion man in the leg resulting in a fumble that derailed the offense.
Herbert navigated collapsing pockets, free rushers and managed to get the ball out only for the Chargers pass catchers to consistently prove themselves snake bitten and drop critical opportunities. Following the fumble on third and inches, Herbert could not find the rhythm to get the offense back in the game. Many NFL analysts, including former quarterback Dan Orlovsky , watched the film and came away defending Herbert to some degree.
For the second week in a row, top back Omarion Hampton had a costly fumble. His fumble late the fourth quarter as the offense was driving down the field and only down by three was the most costly mistake of the day. Hampton was a heavy reason why the Chargers were in the game at that point but the mistake was too much.
The Chargers wide receivers are not getting comfortable. They are dropping passes, missing assignments and failing to gain separation with Ladd McConkey hurt and on a limited snap count.
The Chargers lost both David Njoku and Charlie Kolar to injury. Njoku had an awful drop that popped up in the air for an interception and Gadsden had a terrible mistake on a Herbert scramble where he essentially defended a pass intended for Brenen Thompson. Kolar was blocking like an absolute madman and his presence will be sorely missed on injured reserve.
No need to separate the interior from the tackles this week. The entire unit gave up ten pressures and were penalized six times. Not a great performance from the hogs up front.
The saving grace of the defense was the defensive line. Teair Tart was an absolute beast in the middle of the defensive line and everyone got in on the action.
The edge rushers held strong edges and had a good game rushing Kirk Cousins . For some reason, defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary keeps dropping them into coverage and it does not appear to be working well.
Daiyan Henley , Troy Dye and Del'Shawn Phillips helped hold the Raiders run game in check and had zero missed tackles on the day. The middle of the field in coverage continues to be a problem but this may be a coaching point over the players performance.
Derwin James broke a finger in the middle of this game and had to miss a bit of time but eventually returned. Tony Jefferson was solid and performed well. The younger safeties Genesis Smith and RJ Mickens struggled with communication and made several errors that left receivers wide open down field.
The cornerbacks continued a rotation between the top three and Donte Jackson appeared to have a bounceback performance. Were there individual plays that could have been played better? Of course, Cam Hart gave up a few catches and was flagged for a costly penalty and rookie Rodney Shelley gave up a touchdown when he was in perfect position.
Cameron Dicker missed his lone field goal attempt from 58 yards out and holder JK Scott may have been holding the ball laces in for that attempt based on the video. The punt operation and kickoff operations were clean on the day.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chargers/onsi as Grading Every Chargers Position Group After Week 2 Disappointment vs. Raiders .
