The San Diego Chargers dominated every facet of this game from the word go. The New York Jets could not run or pass the ball on offense. On defense, they could stop neither the run nor the pass. At the half, noted dog killer, Michael Vick, actually replaced the Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith. He was, perhaps unsurprisingly, no better than the first-stringer was.
The story of the day was 3rd downs. By the end of the 3rd quarter, the defense still had not allowed a single third down conversion. It didn't matter if they were short or long tries; the defense was just too good and the Jets were just too bad. Through three quarters, the Jets hadn't run a single snap in Chargers territory. In fact, they didn't get across the 50 until a ticky tack defensive pass interference call against Richard Marshall got them over 30 yards inside of 8 minutes to go in the game. The Jets followed that up with their first third down conversion as well. The shutout was maintained, however, when the Jets went for it on 4th down rather than kick a meaningless field goal.
Philip Rivers continued his MVP-caliber season (finishing 20 of 28 for 288 yards & 3 touchdowns) despite getting physically beaten by the Jets' very tough front seven. He threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Gates. This pushed Gates to 10th all-time in receiving touchdowns ahead of the great Isaac Bruce.
Branden Oliver was simply excellent after Donald Brown exited due to injury. He exited the game with 182 yards from scrimmage. To put his day in perspective, I offer this statistic: Oliver finished 12 yards shy of team leader Donald Brown's season total rushing yards. That's unreal. Also, I have to remind you to stop comparing Oliver to Darren Sproles. He's significantly more physical and nowhere near as quick.
Brandon Flowers notched another interception today, and Tom Telesco can't re-sign the veteran cornerback to an extension soon enough. He has been an enormous addition to the defense. The only comparable addition has been Dwight Freeney returning from injury.
Several players left the field during the game including Doug Legursky, Donald Butler, Malcom Floyd, and the already mentioned Donald Brown. We'll have to wait for the injury report to see just how bad the carnage was.
Next week's game is against a weaker opponent, but on the road. The Oakland Raiders represent a good opportunity to get to 5-1, but divisional games are always tough.