Lions vs. Chargers: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for San Diego

The San Diego Chargers scored 30 unanswered points in their largest-ever home comeback as they tamed the Detroit Lions 33-28 on Sunday.

Philip Rivers, who threw a pair of first-half interceptions including a pick-six, bounced back in the second half to throw two touchdown passes, giving him 254 for his career and tying him with Hall of Famer Dan Fouts for the most passing touchdowns in team history. Keenan Allen, whom Rivers targeted 17 times on Sunday, caught 15 passes for 166 yards, becoming the first Chargers receiver to record 15 catches in a game since Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow in 1984.

The Lions, who at one point were up 21-3 and dominating, turned the ball over twice in the second half, and All-Pro receiver Calvin "Megatron" Johnson was a non-factor, catching just two passes for 39 yards.

For more on Sunday's win, click next.

Position Grades for Chargers

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Position	Grade
QB	B
RB	B
WR	A+
TE	A
OL	C+
DL	C
LB	B+
DB	B
Special Teams	C
Coaching	B

Rivers had a passer rating of 57.9 at halftime, then bumped it up to 102.8 by the completion of the game. Poorly thrown balls to Allen and Malcom Floyd hurt him early, but he was able to recover and rally his team to victory.

Melvin Gordon had 14 rushes for 51 yards and would have scored his first career touchdown if it weren't for officials ruling him down before crossing the goal line. He did fumble once, but it was a good day for the rookie regardless. Danny Woodhead scored twice from the shotgun draw, putting in another solid day of work in the Chargers backfield.

Allen was uncoverable, and even though he didn't get into the end zone, it was enough to frustrate the Lions defense and keep the chains moving. Stevie Johnson scored a touchdown and had six catches for 82 yards, most of which he accumulated on bubble screens and crossing routes underneath, which the Lions seemed to have no answer for.

Ladarius Green, who was questionable to play after being diagnosed with a concussion on Wednesday, was the X-factor on offense, catching five passes for 74 yards, including the score that put San Diego ahead in the fourth quarter. 

From my perspective, the offensive line didn't perform as well as it should have, but Rivers seemed to think otherwise, telling Marty Caswell of The Mighty 1090 AM, "The offensive line was awesome. We threw it 40+ times & really only had 2 sacks & they were both not on them. Heck of a day for them."

I will say that it's a shame D.J. Fluker got hurt because he was playing so well, especially in the run game and getting upfield on screen passes.

Up front defensively, the Chargers got pushed around by the Lions O-line even without talented right guard Larry Warford in the lineup. Corey Liuget might have done the most, getting some penetration inside and forcing Matthew Stafford to get rid of the ball quickly, but there wasn't much to grade from on the defensive line.

With Jerry Attaochu out (hamstring), rookie Kyle Emanuel got his first career start at outside linebacker, and he killed it, collecting a sack, an interception and two tackles for loss. His partner on the opposite side, Melvin Ingram, had quite the day too, lighting up Stafford for a sack and forcing a turnover. Manti Te'o missed a couple beats against the run, but he and Donald Butler still earned passing grades at inside linebacker.

In the secondary, Brandon Flowers gets a gold star for holding Megatron to just two catches, and Jason Verrett was also successful in coverage against Golden Tate, limiting him to four catches for 24 yards. Patrick Robinson, playing his first game for the Chargers since coming over from the New Orleans Saints, had an interception off a poorly thrown pass by Stafford. Eric Weddle got his ankles broken by Ameer Abdullah for a touchdown, and he might have been responsible for the blown coverage on Eric Ebron's touchdown, but like the rest of the defense, he got better in the second half and wound up leading the team in tackles with nine.

Rookie Josh Lambo made good on two field-goal tries and missed a 38-yard PAT, but he did a nice job putting the ball in the end zone on kickoffs. San Diego's kick-coverage unit was unable to capitalize, though, and the Lions had over 100 yards in returns from Abdullah.

My only complaint with the coaching staff stems from the decision to pass on 3rd-and-1, resulting in the Glover Quin pick-six. With Gordon and Woodhead available to pick up at least a yard on the ground, why not run the ball and play it safe? Third-and-1 backed up at your own 31-yard line isn't the time to get fancy.

Allen's Career Day

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Allen surpassed his previous career high of 11 receptions and 135 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season with 15 catches and 166 yards against a pretty good Lions secondary. When he ran those shallow crossing patterns underneath, it was game over from the start.

With 35-year-old Rashean Mathis on him most of the day, Allen made it look easy, breaking inside and then getting yards after the catch. All Rivers had to do was get him the ball, and he did the rest. No. 13 was a big reason San Diego got the win on Sunday.

Rivers Shakes off Poor First Half

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Rivers' first interception was a combination of poor decision-making and throwing behind the receiver. Allen attempted to come back for the ball, but once it was tipped in the air, Quin was right there to make the play. Rivers' second pick was a little different in that he made the right decision to try and take an advantage of a mismatch he had on the outside with Darius Slay and the much taller Floyd, but he didn't give Floyd a chance to go up and get it. Rivers even admitted to the flub, telling Caswell, he "grossly" underthrew his 6'5" target.

But as Rivers has been known to do in the past, he got it together in the second half and played lights-out, much like in the San Francisco 49ers game toward the end of last season. He's learned how to dig himself out of big holes, something we didn't see from him in the past before Mike McCoy's arrival in 2013.

Fluker Carted off with Ankle Injury

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Fluker was rolled up on toward the end of a run by Woodhead and carted off the field with an ankle injury. NFL Network reporter Rand Getlin was told Fluker did not suffer any broken bones and that he is scheduled to have an MRI tomorrow. Best-case scenario, it's some degree of sprain that might require a couple of weeks, but it's still a big blow to the offensive line.

Last year's starter at right guard, Johnnie Troutman, suffered a fractured arm in the preseason and is out for some time, so the team may be forced to call up somebody from the practice squad, possibly Michael Ola, who was signed a week ago and started 12 games for the Chicago Bears last season at multiple positions.

McCoy on Rivers

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Anytime you have a quarterback like Philip Rivers you have a chance. (courtesy of Chargers' Twitter handle)

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The Chargers made it a point to lock up Rivers for the next five years before the season started, and I bet they feel pretty good knowing they have a proven leader under center as opposed to some rookie they might have drafted had he left after this season. It's tough to find franchise quarterbacks these days, especially ones that can lead such a rally down by 18.

When the game is on the line, Rivers tends to step up and play smarter. You saw him get defenders offsides with the hard count, make clutch throws and run the no-huddle with confidence. Not many guys can do that, but he's one of the few.

Rivers on Emanuel

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We all thought this 51 is something. He's gonna be a stud. He just knows how to play the game..has savviness. (per Marty Caswell's Twitter handle)

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Emanuel flashed in the preseason, so much so that he earned playing time with the ones, and now we know why. He can rush the passer, fight off blocks in the run game and oh by the way make super-athletic interceptions.

The North Dakota State product was never guaranteed a spot on this team, but over the last few months, he has continued to impress the coaching staff as things have gone well for him. I won't say he'll take over for Attaochu, but expect to see him in a lot.

Gordon on Having Touchdown Called Back

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I was hoping they'd give me that touchdown. (courtesy of Caswell's Twitter page)

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The refs probably should have given Gordon the touchdown on effort alone because he should have never been able to reach the end zone after getting spun around and knocked off his feet. How he was able to keep his balance and fight off tacklers still blows my mind.

Even if he didn't get the touchdown, fans should be thoroughly excited by the fact that Gordon is seemingly getting more comfortable with playing time. He didn't look particularly good in his first preseason game, but he's starting to catch on with more carries.