After the loss to the Detroit Lions last week, the Los Angeles Chargers were in major need of a rebound to get back in the win column. Both teams made the playoffs last year and it was expected to be a good match up heading in. Sadly, the Chargers were unable to maintain their early lead and couldn’t respond once they fell behind. Now 1-2, the team will be in desperate need for a win next week against the Miami Dolphins.

The Good

Keenan Allen

This shouldn’t even be “good” when you consider how well Allen played in this game. Coming off of a great showing last week, he would exceed that output by a great deal. With a final tally of 13 catches, 183 yards and two touchdowns his impact was obvious from start to finish. He was reliable when the big play was needed, something Charger fans are certainly used to.

Casey Hayward

Casey Hayward had a tough match up this week, lining up across from Deandre Hopkins. Hopkins was able to get loose for a 34 yard catch however that was actually against Desmond King on a short slant. Outside of that, Hopkins had five catches for 33 yards. When you are able to hold a top three wide receiver in the NFL to those numbers you have had yourself a day.

Rush Defense

This one is more in comparison to where they started the season than this specific game. Not to say they didn’t perform well today, they did. Holding a team to 2.1 yards per rush is great anytime you do it. That being said, the Texans didn’t run the ball a ton as they were playing from behind for a solid portion of this game. Still, it’s encouraging to see this unit hold an opponent like that and to me should be recognized for it.

The Bad

Pass Rush

Joey Bosa and Brandon Mebane both had a sack today, both in the second half and at moments when the team needed them. Sounds good, right? Not when you consider that this Texans offensive line gave up 10 sacks total the first two weeks. They have notoriously been awful at pass blocking and the Chargers employ one of the better duos at edge rusher with Bosa and Melvin Ingram. Beyond sacks, there just wasn’t much pressure on Watson for the entire game. The few times they did get pressure they were unable to bring him down, in embarrassing fashion I might add. One of those occasions resulted in Watson getting free and finding a TE for a touchdown. This unit has to get better if this team is to do anything this year.

Travis Benjamin

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but plays designed or including Benjamin tend to not be positive. While he didn’t make a mass amount of errors, the egregious drop at the end of the game that should have tied it up makes this an earned award for the wide receiver. There was also the drop earlier in the game during the first drive after the Texans took the lead that made it 3rd and 9. Not to mention the screen that they insist on running to him at least once a game, this time resulting in a loss of yards because of course it did.

The Ugly

Covering Tight Ends

Apparently this is just something they decided not to do. The tight ends combined for 8 catches, 122 yards and 3 Touchdowns. That is far from ideal. On two of them, you can see that the communication between the defensive backs just wasn’t there. They left a zone completely open that the TE found, making it an easy target for someone as good as Deshaun Watson

Offensive Line

I wanted to pick on Dan Feeney specifically for killing two drives all on his own, but the others had too many issues to ignore. Michael Schofield and Feeney did their part by giving up sacks or pressures. Sam Tevi couldn’t let them be the only ones, so he gave up a huge sack near the end of the game when his man just ran right by him. Trent Scott with the holding call that negated a play that took the team within the 10 yard line. Five total sacks given up will earn this honor every time.