Chiefs vs. Chargers: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for San Diego
A recent bye week proved to be of no help to San Diego in halting its five-game skid Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs rolled over the Chargers 33-3, extending San Diego's losing streak to six games for the first time since 2011.
Philip Rivers came into the game averaging 337 passing yards on the season but left with only 178 yards for San Diego (2-8), which struggled to protect the quarterback. Rivers was sacked three times, hit five times and threw a pick-six to Justin Houston while under duress. The Chargers had hoped to get their first win in more than a month but not even Rivers could get them there against a dominant Chiefs defense, which held San Diego to 201 total yards and its lowest point total of the season.
Technically, Kansas City (5-5) should credit the defense for two of its touchdowns, as defensive tackle Dontari Poe ran the ball for a goal-line score in the first quarter. Spencer Ware also scored on the ground, twice, and finished with with 96 yards rushing for the Chiefs, who have won four straight games and find themselves back in the playoff hunt after a five-game losing streak earlier this season.
Prepare yourselves, Chargers fans, for a lot of negativity in this week's edition of postgame grades, notes and quotes.
Position Grades for Chargers
1 of 6
Quarterback: D-
To be honest, Rivers missed several throws he should have made but constant pressure by the Chiefs had a lot to do with him being inaccurate. With Tamba Hali coming on one side and Houston on the other, Rivers' head was on a swivel the entire game. He was lucky to complete 19 passes.
Running Back: F
It pains me to keep saying it, but the Chargers have no run game between Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead. They combined for 45 yards on 19 carries, with Gordon getting 37 on his own. What an embarrassment to have that kind of production from the running game on the day LaDainian Tomlinson had his number retired by the Chargers.
Wide Receiver: D
The receiving corps struggled with both Keenan Allen and Malcom Floyd out because of injuries, and Rivers not having enough time to throw also factored in. Dontrelle Inman and Javontee Herndon had flashes but also showed their inexperience with a couple of dropped passes. Stevie Johnson didn't do too bad with seven catches on eight targets, but the Chargers need to see more from him as their current No. 1.
Tight End: F
It's not like Antonio Gates and Ladarius Green played horrible, but with both still hindered by injuries, they contributed almost nothing on offense aside from one catch apiece. And what was up with that spat on the sideline between Rivers and Gates?
Offensive Line: F
It could have been a lot worse than three sacks on Rivers—just go back to the seven sacks Kansas City had in the finale last season. But still, the O-line struggled to match up with Hali and Houston on the edges, and we saw Rivers forced out of the pocket more than ever before in a game this season.
Defensive Line: D-
Corey Liuget had a sack, and that's really all the D-line accomplished. Alex Smith slipped through the cracks up front for 33 yards rushing, and his O-line did well to pass block. Kendall Reyes, who had 10.5 sacks his first two years in the league, is still stuck on one sack—the same total he had all of last season.
Linebacker: C-
There was some good and bad from the linebacking corps, but mostly good. The good first: rookie Denzel Perryman recorded his first career sack and is on the verge of replacing Donald Butler for good in the starting lineup. Defensive coordinator John Pagano mixed it up at inside linebacker, with Perryman starting the game and Butler and others rotating in. Perryman played well, notching six tackles and a tackle for loss. Manti Te'o, returning from a five-game absence due to injury, also had some good moments and looked healthy. Finally, Jeremiah Attaochu looked to be getting pressure on the quarterback every so often despite not getting a sack.
Now the bad: Butler still doesn't look right and there were a number of missed tackles at the first and second levels. With Charcandrick West going out with an injury, there's no reason the Chiefs should have been able to rush for 153 yards but they did anyways. Credit Ware for coming in and picking up the slack. Smith also shouldn't have had that many yards on the ground, as there were a couple of time he managed to escape the grasp of would-be tacklers.
Defensive Back: D-
The secondary didn't allow a touchdown or Smith to throw for an insane amount of yards but big plays through the air killed San Diego. I counted at least four plays of 20 yards or more, with one going for 47. And Travis Kelce was oh so close to catching a touchdown pass had he been able to prevent the ball from touching the ground. Again, Jason Verrett had another day where he looked to be the alpha male in terms of making plays. Meanwhile, the Chargers aren't getting much from Brandon Flowers on the opposite side.
Special teams: F
Not counting Josh Lambo's 52-yard field goal, special teams was pathetic. The Chargers' streak of one punt return yard all season lives on after Sunday, and Javontee Herndon muffed a punt and let another roll to the 1-yard line.
Coaching: D
Frank Reich's first series on offense played to the critics that wanted to see the Chargers run the ball more with Gordon, which they did four straight times to a tune of eight yards. And when that didn't work, he went back to the pass and Kansas City was anticipating it every time, pressuring Rivers off the snap. Meanwhile on defense, the Chargers just didn't have it. They gave up a lot of big plays and didn't look as strong in the red zone, allowing three touchdowns in five trips. San Diego's brass has been patient with head coach Mike McCoy but how will a sixth straight loss sit with ownership?
L.T. Inducted into Chargers Hall of Fame
2 of 6
The fans didn't have much to cheer about in the game Sunday, but the halftime ceremony honoring Chargers' great and future Hall of Famer Tomlinson was a special moment for the San Diego faithful.
Chants of "LT" rang throughout the stadium in spite of defeat, and it was cool to see Tomlinson get his moment in the sun. No. 21 is one of just four to be retired by the organization, joining Lance Alworth, Dan Fouts and the late Junior Seau. If you weren't there to experience it in person, check out the video on Chargers.com. Tomlinson gave a touching speech to the fans in attendance.
Injuries to Report
3 of 6
The bye week actually helped several players return from injury, but Sunday's loss still had a couple of casualties. Defensive tackle Sean Lissemore suffered a concussion, as did safety Jahleel Addae. Per Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that's 11 diagnosed concussions for San Diego—the most of any team this season.
Often-injured left tackle King Dunlap came off the field in the second quarter with an ankle injury, though he could have easily been removed for poor performance after allowing two sacks on the same series to Hali. And finally, the rock of San Diego's O-line, right tackle Joe Barksdale, left the game with a hip injury. No word yet on what the extent of the injuries are.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Philip Rivers on Heated Conversation with Antonio Gates
4 of 6
Per Eric Williams of ESPN.com, here's what Rivers had to say about the heated conversation that took place on the sideline during the second quarter:
"What was said really doesn't matter. Brothers fuss and fight for any of you that have brothers. And I love Antonio, and I think he will tell you the same thing.
"
It's unclear what triggered the spat but it came after the offense was forced to settle for a field goal. Rivers being the way he is, extremely passionate and sometimes critical of his teammates in the heat of battle, my guess is he wanted Gates to do this and he did that instead. But I guess we'll never know.
Don't look too much into it, though. Rivers and Gates have been teammates long enough that one minor altercation isn't going to break them up. Plus, at 2-8, there's got to be a level of frustration setting in amongst the team, which happens every now and then when clubs struggle.
Melvin Gordon on How Playing from Behind Affected Running Game
5 of 6
The Chargers seemed intent on shoving it down Kansas City's throat with a heavy dose of Gordon to start the game, but as he told reporters in the locker room afterwards (via Chargers.com), having to play from behind affected what the team had planned to do coming in, which was run the ball more.
"Our game plan was to come here and run the ball some more, but it's hard to do that when you're down. You can't really run the ball like that, so that kind of affected our game plan a little bit.
"
At this point, it's tough to say why the ground game isn't working. Gordon is obviously a talented player, the Chargers wouldn't have drafted him in the first round if they didn't think so. But no matter what changes they make, it never seems to go his way. San Diego tried to mix up its alignments with more of Rivers under center, in the pistol, the shotgun and even some I-formation, but none of them produced any big runs against Kansas City.
Is it Gordon, the O-line or a combination of both? Or, does it go all the way up to offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who did his best to give the people what they wanted on Sunday. Again, who knows.
HC Mike McCoy on the Game Overall
6 of 6
After an embarrassing loss, the second to a division rival this season, McCoy summed up his team's performance after the game as such, per Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune:
"Obviously, that was a bad day of Chargers football out there in all three phases. ... It was very poor. ... Very disappointed.
"
No argument here, that was a bad day of Chargers football, of football in general. San Diego came into the game averaging 413.9 yards on the season but produced less than half of that against the Chiefs at 201 total yards. Third-down conversions were atrocious at 4-of-13, and the Bolts averaged 3.5 yards per play compared to 6.5 for Kansas City. And that was just the offense.
Coming off a bye week, you'd figure the Chargers would come out a little more determined and with some fight, but they clearly lacked that on Sunday. Granted, the Chiefs were a tough to team to beat going in, but a 30-point defeat is far from being competitive.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
