Chargers Wildcard Recap: Mike Badgley I Love You
Some things we learned in yesterdays 23-17 win over the Ravens.
1. The Chargers remain undefeated outside of that hellhole Los Angeles
2. Anthony Lynn can learn from his mistakes and adapt a game plan to stop unorthodox quarterbacks
3. Mike Badgley is the unanimous MVP and a true king among men.
Offensively, this was a really slow game. Lynn intentionally didn’t let Philip Rivers (22/32, 160 yards) hold the ball too long or look too deep, which lead to him tacking a single sack compared to the 4 from 2 weeks ago. While I expected Lynn to do more empty set work, as noted in my preview blog, they mostly kept Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler close for protection. They picked up a lot of blocks, and Rivers was able to work a bunch of plays over the middle to Keenan Allen (4 rec, 37 yards) and Mike Williams (2 rec, 42 yards). Even old man Antonio Gates got in on the action, moving the chains on a signature fake-out-go-middle catch to move the chains. Rivers also extended some plays on his legs (yes, you’re reading this right), leading to maybe my favorite Philly Ballgame gif in forever.
Melvin Gordon finished with 40 yards on 17 rushes, which is an abysmal 2.4 YPA. However, Max Kellerman, he did leave the game with an injury then return for a touchdown. The offensive line played well except for a lot of rushing plays that were blown up due to missed blocks by Mike Pouncey and Russell Okung. They were handed great field position by both the defense and special teams a lot, and failed to make more than a single touchdown out of it. That is my biggest concern going into New England, where every possession needs to yield points. The biggest positive of the day was Big Dick Mike Badgely going 5/6 on field goals, including a 53-yard BOMB. People may not know this, but this franchise has struggled mightily with kickers recently in the regular season, and historically they fuck them in the post-season. Remember Nate Kaeding missing 3 in a row vs the Jets?
I will never forgive him. One of the GOAT regular-season kickers %wise and probably the worst post-season kicker of all time. Anyway, Badgley is a fucking beast. His counterpart, punter Donnie Jones, had an absolutely terrible game. He averaged 35-yards a punt and also fucked up the hold on Badlgey’s one miss, double clutching the ball for some reason.
On defense, they played an absolutely masterful game. 10 Qb hits, 7 sacks, 6 passes defended and 9 total TFL. DC Gus Bradley had a masterful setup including 7 defensive backs for most of the game, valuing speed over power. This compensated perfectly for the loss of stud LB Jatavis Brown, and allowed AP (This stand for both Adrian Phillips and Associated Press, whose All-Pro team he is a member of) to run wild for 5 tackles, 3 passes defended and an interception. Melvin Ingram also had the game of his life, leading the team in tackles and sacking Jackson twice, forcing a fumble on one. He also recovered Uchenna Nwosu‘s game ending strip sack of Jackson as well.
Takeaways: A lot of small-brain people are trying to make excuses for the win, saying that Lamar is just a rookie etc etc. They’re dumb. Lamar Jackson is a good dual threat quarterback that came on to a floundering offense and went 6-1. This Ravens team is also one of the top 3 defenses in the NFL by any metric (#1 for a lot of analysts) and M&T Bank Stadium is extremely hard to play in. This Charger team came in 2 weeks removed from them getting their worst loss of the season with an adapted game plan and controlled the entire game essentially from start to finish. I’m excited to see what the coaching staff does going into Gillette, and also sort of terrified because I’m going to be live on the electric chair for it. Side note: the officiating on this game STUNK. They were completely inconsistent and blew calls for both teams, including a no-call PI for Keenan and calling Derek Watt‘s TD short and somehow placing the ball a full yard from the goal line. They also hurt the ravens with no call PI plays in the red zone. Just be consistent, please. Some big, BIG news is that Hunter Henry is officially off the PUP list and on the active roster. LETS FUCKING GO! EAT YOUR HEART OUT STEPHEN A!
Notes: Troymaine Pope, Forrest Lamp, Jatavis Brown, Cole Toner, Dylan Cantrell, Anthony Lanier and Brandon Mebane were all inactive. Brandon Facyson left with a concussion and did not return. They play yet another 1:05pm ET start (Nice job, NFL) in Gillette on Sunday in the snow. Reminder, the Chargers hype train is open to all fans who are sick of their franchises. Our fanbase is the island of misfit toys, and we accept all of the other rejects that want a home.
I’ll have a preview blog for both the bolts and the chiefs for you guys on Friday as well. Until then, don’t forget to subscribe to Lights, Camera, Pod, follow us on Twitter, follow us on Instagram and join in on the conversation on our Reddit. Oh and vote for the best movie from Minnesota (RIP in Piece Tommy Thibs). Click here if the embedded form doesn’t work on your device.
P.S. The Chargers playing Kodak Black in the locker room after winning in his house, my god.