Team Grades: Chargers Cruise Past Jaguars 33-14
By Dave Thomas
While it was not pretty at times, the San Diego Chargers took care of business Sunday afternoon in a 33-14 home win over the gutty but winless Jacksonville Jaguars. With the win, the Bolts have now won three straight after a tough 18-17 loss on the road in Arizona to open the season.
With Central Florida product Blake Bortles getting his first career start under center, the Jaguars had hoped to sneak up on a San Diego (3-1) team coming off of impressive back-to-back wins over defending Super Bowl champ Seattle and Buffalo. So much for that idea.
With a crowd of some 58,000-plus on hand, the Chargers did not exactly blow Jacksonville (0-4) out of the house, but still won in rather convincing fashion after spotting the Jaguars a 14-10 advantage.
Defense Puts The Clamps Down Again
As has been the case the last three games now, San Diego's defense is showing opponents that it will bend but not break.
After holding Seattle's high octane offense of Russell Wilson and company to 21 points two weeks ago, San Diego stymied Buffalo on the road last Sunday, holding the Bills to a mere 10 points.
In this contest, Bortles had a few nice moments, but he also showed that he's going to need plenty of quality playing time (not garbage time when the game is all but over) to get a read on NFL defenses.
With the Jaguars still hanging around in the fourth quarter, Bortles (29-of-37, 253 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT's), looked to get Jacksonville closer, but Eric Weddle closed the door with an interception (Brandon Flowers also had one). On the day, San Diego's defense also kept Jacksonville's ground game in check holding the Jags to only 85 yards rushing.
As the Chargers now turn their attention to hosting the 1-3 New York Jets next Sunday, opposing offenses are quickly learning that defense is the name of the game in San Diego.
As for the Chargers grades on the day:
Offense: (B) Even though San Diego was able to pretty much pass at will against the Jags (Philip Rivers 377 yards passing, 3 TD's), the running game was anemic at best. Yes, both starters Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead (out for the season) are missing, but what the Chargers have now would not suffice on many college rosters. A mere 42 yards net rushing on 20 carries was all the Chargers could muster in the absence of both Mathews and Woodhead. Granted, San Diego wasn't exactly burning up the NFL record books early in the season when both Mathews and Woodhead were in there, but at least the threat of a decent running performance was there. Look, Donald Brown and Branden Oliver are trying, but you just don't feel as an opposing defense that Chargers can much move the ball on the ground, at least not until a healthy Matthews returns. As for the wide receivers, strong day for Eddie Royal (2 TD catches, 105 yards total) and Keenan Allen (10 receptions for 135 yards).
Defense: (A-) Yes, the Bolts were not exactly going up against Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but Bortles showed enough to demonstrate there is some talent there. That said the rookie doesn't appear to have enough pieces around him at this point and time to do too much damage to opposing defenses. Along with the two interceptions the Chargers got, the defense not only clamped down on Jacksonville's running game, but also kept Bortles' receivers bottled up more times than not. Donald Butler (7 solo tackles), Brandon Flowers and Marcus Gilchrist (6 solo stops each) more than did their jobs on this late September afternoon. With the Jets and Oakland Raiders and their quarterback issues up the next two Sundays, San Diego's defense should continue rolling along before getting Kansas City's Alex Smith (Oct. 19) and Denver's Manning (Oct. 23) in a span of less than a week
For more Chargers news and updates, visit Chargers Central.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
