Often times, after a loss, it's difficult to pick out which San Diego Chargers player played well enough to deserve a game ball. That's not the case this week, as Donald Butler continued his ascent from "rookie" to "defensive stud".
On the fourth play of the game, Butler quieted the New Jersey crowd by ripping the ball out of the hands of Dustin Keller (technically recorded as a forced fumble and fumble recovery) and running 37 yards for the first Chargers defensive touchdown of the season.
Donald went on to collect 6 tackles in the game against the Jets, leading the Chargers. It was the fourth time in six professional games that Butler led the team in tackles, or at least tied for the lead. He is on pace for over 100 tackles this season and currently leads the team. The leading tackler on the Chargers last year was Kevin Burnett, who finished with 95 total tackles.
Not to be forgotten, Butler's lack of assistance offered to Shonn Green (and his helmet) that was highlighted in Orz's DVR post earlier today showed a bit of attitude that we fans love to see in our linebackers.