St. Louis Rams vs. San Diego Chargers: Full Report-Card Grades for San Diego
There was no shortage of drama in San Diego's wild victory over St. Louis on Sunday.
The Chargers recovered from a six-point effort in the first half to score 21 points in the second half. Marcus Gilchrist sealed the 27-24 edge with a late pick to move San Diego to 7-4 on the season, keeping them in the postseason hunt.
But as entertaining as it was to watch from a fan's perspective, Sunday's game had its share of flaws. The Chargers were cited for eight penalties by a flag-happy officiating crew, and three turnovers nearly cost them the game.
Here's how the units graded in Week 12.
Quarterback
1 of 10
How much blame you put on Philip Rivers for the 99-yard pick-six is up for debate.
Rivers will tell you it's his fault, but the reality is his intended receiver slipped, leading to the easy interception for Janoris Jenkins, who notched his second pick-six this season.
"Philip Rivers took responsibility for pick-6 by Janoris Jenkins. Said he wanted the ball on Keenan Allen's outside shoulder.
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) November 24, 2014"
"Rivers also thought that had Allen not slipped, he could have got his body in front of the ball so ball was not intercepted.
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) November 24, 2014"
The turnover aside, Rivers bounced back nicely from subpar outings against the Raiders and Dolphins with his highest completion percentage of the season (82.9) and 291 yards passing.
Grade: B
Running Back
2 of 10
When he's healthy, Ryan Mathews can be every bit as productive as the league's top backs, and he aimed to show that on Sunday against the Rams.
Mathews eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time since Week 16 of last season, totaling 105 yards on 16 carries. Coming out of halftime, the Chargers needed a spark to rid themselves of the 10-6 deficit they faced after a sluggish start on offense, and Mathews answered the call with a long touchdown run to give San Diego a 13-10 lead in the third quarter.
In the two games since he returned from injury, Mathews has notched 175 yards on the ground, reviving what was once a stale rushing attack.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Keenan Allen sought redemption after a slip and muffed punt allowed the Rams to collect 14 points on his misfortunes (not to mention the fumble after a long catch), and he delivered with a 29-yard scoring play that stretched San Diego's lead to 10 points in the fourth quarter.
"“That’s what it's about; being able to face adversity, react to it & bounce back. I think I did that.” @Keenan13Allen pic.twitter.com/4kkdCzRoGn
— San Diego Chargers (@Chargers) November 24, 2014"
Also in the fray with six catches was Eddie Royal, and Malcom Floyd snared four passes for 30 yards. Ladarius Green outdid Antonio Gates with a pair of catches for 34 yards, including the 27-yard grab he made on 3rd-and-8 to extend a drive in the final stanza.
Grade: C+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
It happened; the offensive line actually had a decent game for once.
Forget the three sacks they allowed for one minute and focus instead on the textbook blocking that sprung both Mathews and Allen on their second-half touchdowns. Rookie Chris Watt, who made his first career start at center, had the key block on Michael Brockers during Mathews' 32-yard run, perhaps providing a glimpse as to what the future hold for life after Nick Hardwick.
"Ryan Mathews on Chris Watt's 1st start at C "He's going to be a monster, man. He's good. He's young but he's going to be something else"
— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) November 24, 2014"
And on the screen pass to Allen, King Dunlap and Chad Rinehart helped pave the way for the score.
Grade: C+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Tre Mason punished the Chargers defense with several first-down runs in the first half as the Rams offensive line took command up front, but as the game wore on, San Diego's D-line adjusted and made it extremely difficult for Mason to convert on 3rd-and-short.
What really turned the tides, however, was Corey Liuget's strip sack that led to a scoop and score for the defense, capping off a 14-point run in a span of 12 seconds for San Diego. On a side note, undrafted rookie Tenny Palepoi played very well in place of Ryan Carrethers, who was inactive with an elbow injury. Palepoi tallied three tackles and one tackle for loss.
Grade: C+
Linebacker
6 of 10
John Pagano's use of the linebackers in his defensive scheme has been on point the last two games. The rotations he instills in different packages utilizes everybody's strengths, and that was evident on a number of plays.
The duo of Donald Butler and Kavell Conner in San Diego's base defense had some whiffs on Mason in the hole, but they recalibrated in the second half to keep the damage to a minimum. Manti Te'o, who works in the team's nickel and dime packages, played well in his second game back, tacking on a pass defensed courtesy of his back getting in the way of a Shaun Hill pass.
Today's highlight play, however, was earned by fourth-year linebacker Andrew Gachkar, who has made his way from a special-teams player to a key contributor on defense. Gachkar came up with the heads-up play to pick up the live ball knocked free by Liuget and run it back 13 yards for a touchdown.
Grade: B+
Secondary
7 of 10
The secondary has bailed out San Diego in the final minute on two occasions this season. Once in Week 6 via Jason Verrett's interception and again on Sunday with Gilchrist picking of Hill near the goal-line.
Stedman Bailey did the most damage for the Rams with 89 yards on seven catches and had a late touchdown that trimmed the Chargers' lead to three with 2:04 to go, but aside from that, the secondary stepped up big in allowing Hill to complete no more than 18 passes.
Brandon Flowers had the other interception for San Diego, Eric Weddle led the team with nine tackles and the defensive backs accounted for five passes defensed.
Grade: A
Special Teams
8 of 10
Nick Novak was perfect from 26 yards and 48 yards on field goals, and Mike Scifres booted four punts for 197 yards a week after his stellar performance against the Raiders.
Where San Diego bombed, however, was in kickoff and punt coverage. The Rams executed a fake punt quite easily in the fourth quarter on Johnny Hekker's throw to Bailey. Benjamin Cunningham had 133 yards on kick returns, and Austin would have had a 72-yard punt return had it not been for a penalty.
Darrell Stuckey's blocked field goal lessens the blow, but Kevin Spencer will have some things to sort out with his unit.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 10
Pagano's defense continues to excel despite the two touchdowns in the second half, but it performed admirably in crunch time. St. Louis was threatening near the goal line, but Gilchrist came up huge for his coordinator.
Frank Reich showed a willingness to run Mathews early, but some odd calls on 3rd-and-short to pass instead of run didn't set well. If your running back is averaging 8.8 yards a carry, why not trust him to get the yard or two?
Mike McCoy is finding it harder to produce wins in year two, and in a razor-close divisional race, he needs to get his team ready for a brutal stretch of games to finish the season.
Grade: C+
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| QB | B |
| RB | A |
| WR and TE | C+ |
| OL | C+ |
| DL | C+ |
| LB | B+ |
| Secondary | A |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | C+ |
| Cumulative Grade | B |
After Denver managed to hold off Miami on Sunday, the Chargers are still a game back of the Broncos, which makes it that much more important to finish strong here in the next five weeks. Next up for San Diego is a visit to Baltimore against a Ravens team that will be coming off a short week with a road game against New Orleans this Monday.
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