Passing Game Dominates as Chargers Take Down Struggling Saints

Behind rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey’s two touchdowns, the Chargers ride a second-half passing wave en route to a comfortable win Sunday over the New Orleans Saints.

Austin Gage | Contributing Sports Writer

Behind rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey’s two touchdowns, the Chargers ride a second-half passing wave en route to a comfortable win Sunday over the New Orleans Saints.

Coming off last week’s disappointing last-second loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Chargers bounced back in a big way Sunday afternoon in Week 8 with a 26-8 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

However, despite the eventual gap and large margin of victory, the game certainly did not start the way Los Angeles would have hoped.

After a good stand by the Charger defense to stop the Saint offense and force a punt around midfield, an offense marked by rookie starting quarterback Spencer Rattler playing his third game in a leading role, the Bolts took over for their second offensive possession deep in their own half. After an unsuccessful rush by running back J.K. Dobbins and two failed passing attempts by quarterback Justin Herbert, Los Angeles faced their second straight punt to begin the game. Facing a poor snap, punter JK Scott was forced to try to corral the football. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the football escaped to the right of Scott, and when the punter tried to control the ball, it bounced around in the endzone and eventually bounced out of bounds through the side of the endzone for a safety. After the special teams disaster, the Saints looked at an early 2-0 lead and received possession to start their own second drive of the game.

A holding penalty stalled the drive for New Orleans and a punt followed. The Chargers could not capitalize on the next drive, but another Saints drive ensued. So, in total, 3 failed drives tailed off after the disastrous safety, and the Chargers took the field for their fourth drive of the game late in the first quarter.

Scrambling to his right on first down, Herbert picked a big gain on the ground for 38 yards to move the ball into the Saints’ territory. The 38-yard run marked the largest gain for Herbert on the ground in his career. And although the drive would once again stall out, the big play made sure Los Angeles was in position to take the lead with a field goal. Kicker Cameron Dicker, who has been exceptional this season and tallied much of the offense for Los Angeles, nailed a 46-yard field goal to put the Chargers ahead 3-2 early in the second quarter.

Three more punts, two by New Orleans and one by Los Angeles, followed the scoring drive from the Chargers. The Saints looked to take advantage of a promising possession after a 37-yard catch and run by star running back Alvin Kamara, a back who agreed to a two-year, $24.5 million extension in the past week, but the Charger defense stood its ground and received aid from an offensive holding penalty to halt any New Orleans attempt at scoring more points on the early second quarter drive.

Then, midway through the second quarter, the Chargers offense finally seemed to find their stride. After a first down pitch and catch from Herbert to Dobbins, Saints defensive tackle Nathan Sheperd appeared to twist the ankle of the quarterback well after the play was present in the backfield. In an effort to protect his quarterback, Chargers veteran center Bradley Bozeman sprinted and pushed Shepherd off of Herbert and continued to push the Saints defensive lineman into the turf. The two linemen both received unnecessary roughness penalties. Bozeman, who clearly felt the play was dirty, was awarded a game ball by head coach Jim Harbaugh after the game and celebrated by his teammates.

“It was probably one of the dirtiest plays I’ve ever seen,” Bozeman said, “You protect your quarterback no matter what. And I think any of our offensive linemen that was in my position would have done the same thing.”

The flare-up ignited Los Angeles, and Herbert led a 15-play, 90-yard scoring drive that would be capped off by a Dobbins one-yard rushing score. Dobbins, the league’s 10th leading rusher even with the Chargers already having their bye, would finish his day with 17 carries for 57 rushing yards and the rushing score to go along with 4 catches for 11 receiving yards.

The Saints would respond with a field goal just before halftime, making sure the score going into the break was tight at a Charger 9-5 lead.

More punts followed as the third quarter began, as the Saints punted twice and the Chargers punted once despite a first-play 27-yard reception off of play action to wide receiver Joshua Palmer from Herbert. 

Similarly, New Orleans would pick up a first down on their first play of the next drive just to punt the ball away three plays later, and the Los Angeles offense took the field once again still early in the third quarter.

Working off play-action on second down, Herbert looked right and fired a pass to rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey. McConkey went up and took the ball away from Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor, creating a ton of open space for a potential catch-and-run opportunity. Using a slick cutback move towards the middle of the field, the Chargers’ leading receiver on the season raced into the endzone for the team’s second touchdown of the game on an exceptional 60-yard touchdown. The explosive sequence marked the longest scoring play of the season for the Chargers and gave them a 16-5 advantage.

“He’s a complete receiver. To have that short game, those intermediate routes that he’s been so good at especially on third down, and now you open up some of those “go balls” that you got to respect. For him to be able to line up anywhere, inside and outside, we got a true ballplayer on our hands,” said Herbert about McConkey.

After back-to-back punts, one from each team, New Orleans was able to cut the lead to one possession as they kicked a field goal to cut the Los Angeles lead to 16-8. The Charger defense would make sure that these were the last points the Saints offense would score the rest of the game.

Needing to make sure the Saints did not inch their way back into the game, the Chargers matched the field goal with one of their own. Thanks to a high-effort run by Dobbins that saw him break multiple tackles and a 45-yard pass to Palmer, Dicker was able to knock an easy 29-yard attempt through the uprights for a 19-8 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The next two Saints drives would be marked by another punt and a missed field goal, and a second touchdown reception for McConkey on an improvised play late in the fourth quarter truly put the game out of reach. McConkey’s big day saw him finish the game with 6 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. 

“Feels good anytime you get in the endzone, it’s a big deal. Just glad I was able to contribute for the guys today,” McConkey said.

The 26-8 score would remain and the Chargers would hold on for their fourth win on the season in seven tries.

Despite not forcing a single turnover and virtually sharing the same amount of total yards as the Saints (366 for New Orleans and 378 for Los Angeles), the Chargers played timely football to comfortably win.

For Herbert, the game marked his third in a row with over 200 yards passing, as he tallied 279 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air on 20 for 32 passing overall. He also used his legs much more in Sunday’s affair than he had all season, producing 4 carries for 49 yards. Herbert’s great game allowed the Chargers to acquire their first win over the Saints since 2004.

“Four quarters of really good football. Offense, defense, special teams. Very pleased, very proud, pull it down. Now we’ll go search for our next win,” said Harbaugh.

Next up for the 4-3 Chargers is a clash against the 2-6 Cleveland Browns on Sunday, November 3rd, who are coming off an upset win against the Baltimore Ravens.