Looking only at Success & Stop Rates this week, you'd think the Chargers got themselves annihilated and that's not too far from the truth. The Chargers offense could not run the ball at all and had more unsuccessful pass attempts than successful ones. They couldn't move the ball effectively on first or second down and their best quarter statistically was when they broke even over eight plays in the third. The defense was able to stand up against Miami's passing attack, but they were run over play after play on the ground. What then made the difference in San Diego's victory?
It all came down to big plays. Offensively, the Chargers converted third downs regularly and made several huge plays downfield. Defensively, the Chargers really only showed up on third downs and they didn't allow a play of 15 or more yards until Ronnie Brown pulled in a 27 yard pass down by 17 points with about three and a half minutes left in the game. And you can't talk big plays without mentioning Eric Weddle's pick 6 that sealed the victory.
Individually, Jackson, Gates, Floyd and Naanee had good days for the offense while Chambers, Bennett and Sproles were non-factors at best. It may have been partially the line's fault, but neither Bennett nor Sproles was able to do anything on the ground. Four successful plays between them over 25 attempts is just incredibly poor production.
On the defensive side of the ball the Kevin Burnett we saw in the pre-season finally showed up. He led the team in Stops with five and was generally around the ball all day. Nwagbuo was next on the team with three and both Cooper and Castillo registered two stops. It's really nice to see Nwagbuo and Castillo continue to play well in Jamal's absence. Ogemdi is now second on the club in Stops for the season behind Cooper and is one of only four Chargers with at least one stop in each game (Castillo, English & Cooper are the other three).
Offensive Success Rates:
| Overall | 34.9% | 22/63 |
| Pass | 44.4% | 16/36 |
| Run | 22.2% | 6/27 |
| 1st Down | 34.6% | 9/26 |
| 2nd Down | 23.8% | 5/21 |
| 3rd Down | 53.3% | 8/15 |
| 4th Down | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| 1stPass | 55.6% | 5/9 |
| 1stRun | 23.5% | 4/17 |
| 2ndPass | 28.6% | 4/14 |
| 2ndRun | 14.3% | 1/7 |
| 3rdPass | 53.8% | 7/13 |
| 3rdRun | 50.0% | 1/2 |
| 4thRun | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| 1st Quarter | 30.0% | 3/10 |
| 2nd Quarter | 34.8% | 8/23 |
| 3rd Quarter | 50.0% | 4/8 |
| 4th Quarter | 31.8% | 7/22 |
| 1stPass | 42.9% | 3/7 |
| 1stRun | 0.0% | 0/3 |
| 2ndPass | 43.8% | 7/16 |
| 2ndRun | 14.3% | 1/7 |
| 3rdPass | 40.0% | 2/5 |
| 3rdRun | 66.7% | 2/3 |
| 4thPass | 50.0% | 4/8 |
| 4thRun | 21.4% | 3/14 |
| Bennett (Rec) | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| Chambers (Rec) | 0.0% | 0/3 |
| Floyd (Rec) | 50.0% | 2/4 |
| Gates (Rec) | 57.1% | 4/7 |
| Jackson (Rec) | 66.7% | 6/9 |
| Naanee (Rec) | 75.0% | 3/4 |
| Sproles (Rec) | 20.0% | 1/5 |
| Tolbert (Rec) | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| Bennett (Run) | 14.3% | 1/7 |
| Rivers (Run) | 100.0% | 1/1 |
| Sproles (Run) | 16.7% | 3/18 |
| Tolbert (Run) | 100.0% | 1/1 |
Defensive Stop Rates:
| Overall | 44.4% | 28/63 |
| Pass | 58.8% | 20/34 |
| Run | 27.6% | 8/29 |
| 1st Down | 44.4% | 12/27 |
| 2nd Down | 39.1% | 9/23 |
| 3rd Down | 58.3% | 7/12 |
| 4th Down | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| 1stPass | 66.7% | 10/15 |
| 1stRun | 16.7% | 2/12 |
| 2ndPass | 50.0% | 4/8 |
| 2ndRun | 33.3% | 5/15 |
| 3rdPass | 60.0% | 6/10 |
| 3rdRun | 50.0% | 1/2 |
| 4thPass | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| 1st Quarter | 35.3% | 6/17 |
| 2nd Quarter | 62.5% | 5/8 |
| 3rd Quarter | 42.1% | 8/19 |
| 4th Quarter | 47.4% | 9/19 |
| 1stPass | 42.9% | 3/7 |
| 1stRun | 30.0% | 3/10 |
| 2ndPass | 66.7% | 2/3 |
| 2ndRun | 60.0% | 3/5 |
| 3rdPass | 75.0% | 6/8 |
| 3rdRun | 18.2% | 2/11 |
| 4thPass | 56.3% | 9/16 |
| 4thRun | 0.0% | 0/3 |
| Bess (Rec) | 44.4% | 4/9 |
| Brown (Rec) | 0.0% | 0/3 |
| Camarillo (Rec) | 0.0% | 0/2 |
| Fasano (Rec) | 100.0% | 1/1 |
| Ginn (Rec) | 100.0% | 6/6 |
| Polite (Rec) | 100.0% | 3/3 |
| Williams (Rec) | 40.0% | 2/5 |
| Bess (Run) | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| Brown (Run) | 33.3% | 6/18 |
| Cobbs (Run) | 0.0% | 0/1 |
| Williams (Run) | 12.5% | 1/8 |