Oct 20, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; A Jacksonville Jaguars fan wears a bag over his head after their game against the San Diego Chargers at EverBank Field. The San Diego Chargers defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-6. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
The Good: Chargers at Jaguars
The Chargers won the game, but it wasn’t always pretty. Seven bad stats from Jacksonville that Chargers fans should be worried about:
The Bad:
1. Nick Novak: 1-1 20 yard FG, 1 tackle
Same thing as last week. This is not a problem I have with Novak, but the redzone offense still needs work. He also had to make a tackle on special teams again. Ugh. Memories of Kaeding’s injury are still dancing in my head.
2. Chad Henne: 23-36, 318 yards, 1 INT
The Chargers are still 26th in the NFL in passing yards allowed at 273.1. They didn’t help that average on Sunday by allowing Henne, a guy who probably wouldn’t even be a backup on most rosters, to throw for 318 yards.
3. Mike Brown: 5 catches, 120 yards
Mike Brown was torching the secondary. It seemed like he was open along the sidelines on every play. A good amount of his yards were after the catch, which highlights a huge issue for the Chargers again, tackling. The secondary already plays 20 yards off the receivers, so I expect them to be ready to tackle when the catch is made in front of them. Apparently that is still too much to ask.
4. Antonio Gates: 6 catches, 31 yards, 0 TD
At least Gates was getting redzone looks this week. The Chargers still need to find a way to get him more involved with deeper routes. Gates has averaged under 8 yards per catch over the past 3 games (Sunday he averaged 5.2 ypc). He is still able to beat linebackers with his speed and get downfield, but didn’t run many intermediate routes. Gates also caught a shovel pass from Rivers behind the line on 3rd & 4 inside the Jaguars 10. To me, that is just not the way to utilize Gates, especially in the redzone.
5. Ladarius Green: 2 catches, 40 yards
Ladarius Green absolutely burned linebackers for both the catches he made. He has the speed to do it on every single play. He could also be used in the redzone more because Rivers loves his tall receivers. Green needs to get involved one way or another.
6. Chargers Redzone Offense: 2-4
Similar to number 1. The Chargers still haven’t solved their redzone woes. They are at 50% (touchdown rate) for the season after posting 50% in Jacksonville. We are really missing Malcom Floyd here, and still can’t figure out how to utilize Ladarius Green or Antonio Gates near the end zone. If they can, this number will go up. If not, we may be in for a season of short field goals.
XP. Coaching: 8 penalties for 61 yards, 1 lost TO
This is nitpicky, especially since the Chargers were forced to play without their top two left tackles. But, the team was called for numerous false start and holding penalties. Had they not been playing the Jaguars, those penalties could have been devastating. I also tend to forget that Mike McCoy is also a rookie. But, rookie or not, he is a head coach in the NFL and he should know the challenge rules.
Let me know what you thought about the game in the poll, in the comments, or on twitter @kingofcahill
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What was the worst stat from the Jaguars game?