San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs: Full Report Card Grades for San Diego
Better luck next year, Chargers fans.
San Diego was halted from reaching the postseason a second straight year after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-7, on Sunday afternoon.
What should have been a simple win-and-in process ended in agony, as Kansas City's defense lived up to its status as the league's third-ranked scoring defense. Justin Houston, alone, terrorized Philip Rivers for four sacks, and backup quarterback Chase Daniel guided the Chiefs on five scoring drives for his first career win as a starter.
Before getting an early start to the offseason, let's see how the units fared.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Rivers entered Sunday's contest having never lost in Week 17 since 2006, but it seemed unlikely he'd be able to uphold that mark while dealing with a serious back injury.
On top of that, San Diego was without leading receiver Keenan Allen (shoulder) and top rusher Ryan Mathews (ankle).
Rivers finished 20-of-34 for 291 yards and zero touchdown passes—his second game this season without a passing TD. San Diego nearly had one to Eddie Royal in the fourth quarter, but officials ruled that the ball had hit the turf while in the receiver's possession.
Considering the injury he played through and the lack of a supporting cast around him, I thought Rivers gave an average performance. Had protection been better, he might have been able to produce a better result.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
Branden Oliver had a much-improved outing compared to his Week 7 performance against Kansas City. On 14 carries, Oliver picked up 71 yards and punched in a score near the goal for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
Like he's done all throughout this year, Oliver struggled for extra yardage and had my vote for best effort.
Donald Brown had 10 attempts for 39 yards and was bottled up on back-to-back plays for no gain in the fourth quarter. Husain Abdullah came up twice from his safety spot to bury Brown in the backfield.
Together, they combined for 110 yards on the ground. I thought Oliver showed grit and would argue that he get at least one of those carries on fourth down. Brown, as experienced and talented as he is, has failed to show that same spark he showcased last season with Indianapolis.
Grade: C+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
With Allen out, Royal assumed the workload of a No. 1 receiver, hauling in four passes for 95 yards. The 44-yard bomb Royal snagged in the second quarter set up San Diego in prime real estate for the Oliver touchdown.
Dontrelle Inman did most of his damage on San Diego's final drive, catching passes of nine and 28 yards. The first-year wideout finished the game with five catches for 79 yards—his second 79-yard game in as many weeks.
Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd were targeted zero times in the first half and 13 times in the final two quarters. Gates had 67 yards on four catches and Floyd added 29 yards on three. Gates needed just one more TD catch to give him 100 in his career, making him the ninth player to do so in league history.
San Diego knew what it was up against in facing the NFL's second-ranked pass defense. Credit the Chiefs secondary for keeping receivers out of the end zone.
Grade: C
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 10
Houston is something else, man.
His presence on that Kansas City front seven singlehandedly collapsed the offensive line. Rivers was sacked four times by the Chiefs' single-season sack leader and seven times total on the afternoon.
D.J. Fluker and Willie Smith had no answer for Houston, but it didn't stop there. Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey and Dee Ford managed to break through San Diego's interior quite easily for sacks. With Johnnie Troutman and Chris Watt sidelined, the Chargers were forced to play Trevor Robinson at center and rookie Jeremiah Sirles at right guard. Even King Dunlap struggled at times to contain his matchup with Tamba Hali.
San Diego showed some success in running the ball with Oliver, but giving Rivers time on dropbacks was definitely not a strong suit of the boys up front. I'm going to assume this group will experience some changes in the offseason.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Chiefs' game plan didn't change all that much with Daniel in for injured starter Alex Smith.
Kansas City stressed the need to get the run game going with a balanced helping of short passes. Daniel did that and more, using his legs get out of trouble.
Corey Liuget got to Daniel in the third quarter, bringing him down for a sack inside the red zone. San Diego held strong in the red area, keeping Kansas City to three field goals in four trips.
ESPN blogger Eric D. Williams noted during the game that the D-line lacked the size necessary to stop the run.
"Chargers have to address the team's struggles consistently stopping the run this offseason. Need more beef up front.
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) December 28, 2014"
Kansas City totaled 111 yard on the ground, so you could see why his point is a valid one.
Grade: C
Linebacker
6 of 10
Manti Te'o put in a career-high 13 tackles for San Diego, but there were a couple of times when he was either beat in coverage by Travis Kelce or run over by a Chiefs running back.
Dwight Freeney got by former No. 1 overall pick Eric Fisher for a sack, and Melvin Ingram tallied one of his own in the loss. It's a shame we had to wait so long to see how this duo would gel together. Ingram coming back from injury has looked tremendous and has a bright future ahead of him. The same could be said for Andrew Gachkar, who seems to get better every week.
Missed tackles by linebackers were definitely frustrating to watch, but their combined efforts down in the red zone have fueled the defensive unit. If only the offense could score points.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
Brandon Flowers had no big statement in his return to Kansas City. The ex-Chief finished with two tackles working against a mediocre receiving corps.
The loss of Marcus Gilchrist to an elbow injury early on really put a damper on things, as he normally racks up tackles in bunches for the Chargers. Jahleel Addae stepped in and was out briefly before returning. He registered eight tackles.
Shareece Wright was knocked out of the game with a head injury, his second in as many weeks.
Eric Weddle and Addae combined on the tackle that forced Dwayne Bowe to fumble near the goal line, but Kelce recovered for the score. Weddle, who will be going to his third Pro Bowl, had five stops and a tackle for loss.
The secondary played well with one wacky play aside, though how big would it have been if a Chargers player had recovered that ball and not Kelce?
Grade: B-
Special Teams
8 of 10
Here's some expert analysis: De'Anthony Thomas is really fast.
Kansas City's fourth-round draft choice gashed the Chargers for 69 yards in punt returns. There's a reason the Chiefs lead the league in return yards, and he's it. Thomas had a big runback of 41 yards that set up a Chiefs field goal in the second quarter.
After kicking the game-winner a week ago against the 49ers, Nick Novak missed his only attempt on Sunday, swinging a 50-yarder wide left. To me, I find it odd that Novak has been missing kicks ever since he lost holder Mike Scifres. That's nothing against Mat McBriar, but it's a strange coincidence that he set a team record for consecutive kicks made and then suddenly started missing.
And as for Chris Davis, there doesn't seem to be any magic left for the former Auburn standout. His kick-six is a thing of the past; he needs to make something happen when handed return duties.
Grade: D
Coaching
9 of 10
Considering I don't sit in on coaches meetings or hear what's going through those headsets on Sunday, I don't exactly know how much blame you put on Mike McCoy for the offensive struggles. Is Frank Reich calling back-to-back runs on fourth down with the game on the line, or is that collective decision between he and McCoy?
Does the fact that Allen and Mathews were absent factor in at all?
Rivers and this offense were clicking at the start of the season, but the production tailed off before the bye week, and then it really got bad down the stretch.
John Pagano has done everything possible to give his team the best chance to win by holding teams to field goals, but he gets no run support when it's needed.
Tough to win without key contributors on offense, but McCoy and Reich have to work around that.
Grade: D
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | C |
| Running Back | C+ |
| Wide Receiver and Tight End | C |
| Offensive Line | F |
| Defensive line | C |
| Linebacker | B |
| Secondary | B- |
| Special Teams | D |
| Coaching | D |
| Cumulative Grade | C- |
The Chargers have a lot of questions to answer in the offseason. Will this be the last year for Mathews in a Chargers uniform? Is Freeney done after this year? Will Rivers be the same quarterback if he needs back surgery? All these, among others, will be answered.
San Diego went 5-1 to start the year only to finish 4-6 the rest of the way. All it needed was a win to get back into the postseason, but it couldn't deliver.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
