The plan was simple. It was to carry the momentum from the four-game winning streak, play starters, and come out healthy. Easier said than done, especially after taking a 31-28 loss in which some things went wrong.
The Chargers knew coming in that they had wrapped up the fifth seed thanks to Cincinnati beating Baltimore. Even then, they decided to go with the same plan.
Well, the plan went down the drain when the Chargers offense ran a screen pass to receiver Mike Williams in the middle of the second quarter. After being tackled, he tried to get up but had difficulty. He needed help off the field and into the blue tent.
After halftime, CBS showed a video of Williams being carted to the locker room and him needing help into the locker room. He needed help to get onto the bus after the game, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper.
ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler tweeted that Williams’s injury seems “minor” and that “he’ll be ok.” Take that for what you will, but if Williams can’t play, it will be a significant loss for the offense.
“This isn’t the preseason where you have 90 guys to choose from. You only have 48 players to choose from,” Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said. “So, you have to go out there, you have to field a football team. So, we did it the best we could. We wanted to play well in the game, and then we wanted to be safe for next week. That’s what we did.”
Staley has taken a lot of criticism during the game and even after because of the decisions he made and the outcome.
Now, if Staley had sat quarterback Justin Herbert, Mike Williams, and Keenan Allen to give some examples, and next weekend they laid an egg against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then the question would have been asked; why didn’t they play guys against the Broncos?
The players did need to play but maybe not as long. Herbert played three quarters while receiver Keenan Allen and some defensive starters were still in during the fourth quarter.
“I think it was up to the front office and up to coach Staley and whatever they decided for our offense for our defense, I was going to be on board with 100%,” Herbert said.
The fourth quarter was when they got Derwin James, Corey Linsley, Trey Pipkins, Matt Feiler, and others out of the game.
“There’s only 48 guys that you can choose from, and these aren’t easy decisions,” Staley said. “They’re not easy decisions. And Hindsight is perfect for everybody on the outside. But these games are not easy to manage. They’re not because you don’t have that many players, and we did it to the best of our ability.”
The criticism is that Williams got hurt, and the defense gave up a lot of ground. Staley said they wanted to go into Jacksonville playing well, and his defense was not good on Sunday.
They gave up 471 yards of offense, led by quarterback Russell Wilson. Two skill position players took it to the Chargers in running back Latavius Murray and receiver Jerry Jeudy. Murray had 103 rushing yards, while Jeudy had over 190 yards of offense.
The Chargers defense gave up almost 500 yards of offense. It wasn’t all bad because there were glimpses of the four-game winning streak defense of the Chargers. Kyle Van Noy had a sack and assisted on a Sebastian Joseph-Day interception.
“It was up and down too many big plays,” Staley said.
The Chargers offense had a mixed showing, but again they couldn’t get the rush established, having 59 yards on 22 carries. The good was that Herbert was only sacked once and was able to spread the ball to numerous receivers.
It was a rough outing for the Chargers, but now they can put it behind them and focus on the Jacksonville Jaguars. The last time these teams faced each other was in week three when the Jaguars blew out the Chargers 38-10 at SoFi Stadium.
This will be the first time Herbert will be in the playoffs in his professional career. If Williams plays, this offense will completely change from the one Jacksonville faced in week three.
“Much different team than the one that played them that day, entirely different,” Staley said.
