Chargers Shut Down Lowly Panthers En Route to Week 2 Victory

Led by a dominant rushing attack and stout defense, the Chargers improve to 2-0 with a statement victory over the Carolina Panthers in their second game under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Austin Gage | Contributing Sports Writer

Led by a dominant rushing attack and stout defense, the Chargers improve to 2-0 with a statement victory over the Carolina Panthers in their second game under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Unlike their Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Week 2 brought almost no sweat for the Los Angeles Chargers as they rode a 20-0 halftime led to culminate with a 26-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon.

From the opening drive, the Chargers made it known that they were not messing around. Starting at the 33-yard line of Carolina to begin the game, the Bolts used a 9-play, 67-yard drive to score the game’s first touchdown via a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Quentin Johnston via star quarterback Justin Herbert. Beating Panthers’ talented cornerback Jaycee Horn on the play, Johnston was able to reel in the football via a diving catch on a beautiful throw from Herbert directed along the left sideline. 

“It was awesome to see. We believe in him so much and we’ve seen that from him in camp and OTAs. He’s gone up and made plays and so it was only a matter of time before we saw it on the big stage. I’m happy for him, really excited for him and I know it’s only the beginning for him,” Herbert said regarding Johnston.

Although Horn would get some personal revenge on the ensuing Chargers drive with an interception of Herbert after a Panthers punt on their own opening drive, Los Angeles would continue their near-flawless defensive effort and make sure that Carolina would not put up any points in the first half. The Charger defense forced five total punts from the Panther offense and an interception of quarterback Bryce Young in the first half, and Carolina would finally achieve their first down of the game with just over four minutes left in the second quarter.

The second Los Angeles scoring drive of the first half was one dominated on the ground, as 9 of the 11 plays on the drive included rushing attempts. Running backs J.K. Dobbins, who had 135 rushing yards in the opener last week, and Gus Edwards carried the ball along with Herbert on the drive to set up a goal-to-go situation for the Chargers. Herbert was then able to find a wide-open Johnston in the endzone for the latter’s second touchdown reception of the first half. Johnston would end up with 5 catches for 51 yards and two touchdowns, a statline that represents the best overall in the young career of the wide receiver selected in the first round in 2023.

For Dobbins, he showed that his stellar effort in Week 1 was no fluke. After a stop by the Chargers defense that ended with the aforementioned interception of Young by cornerback Elijah Molden, Dobbins rumbled down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown. After admitting last week that he needed to be faster in response to getting chased down on a big run late against the Raiders, Dobbins showcased his speed and even broke a tackle on the late-first-half run to somersault into the endzone and put the Chargers up 20-0 entering the break.

“I saw an opening and I took it. Last week I got caught, I wasn’t letting that happen this week and I’m not going to let it happen again,” said Dobbins. 

Dobbins would end the game with a statline of 17 carries for 131 rushing yards to go along with the big-play touchdown, making it two straight games of phenomenal numbers for the running back in his first two games with Los Angeles.

Playing on such a large lead, the Chargers didn’t have to do much in the second half. A pair of Cameron Dicker field goals combined with a Panther field goal provided the only scoring in the last two quarters and Los Angeles cruised to a 26-3 victory. 

An impressive team defensive effort by the Chargers saw them only allow 159 total yards on the day, including only 69 yards through the air. In a game where the Panthers only secured seven first-downs, the Carolina offense was never even a factor.

Herbert didn’t need to rely on his arm once again as he ended the game with only 20 passing attempts to tally 130 passing yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Although the star quarterback’s passing numbers are drastically down through the first two games of the 2024 campaign compared to his career averages, the Chargers are 2-0 and currently boast one of the league’s best rushing attacks.

“To be able to run the ball like that, it sure keeps the chains moving. To be able to keep the ball moving like that, keep the defense off the field and give them some time to rest, that’s how you win some football games,” Herbert said.

Up next for Los Angeles is a Week 3 clash against the similarly undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers in the Steel City next Sunday.