5 takeaways from the Los Angeles Chargers’ rout of the Browns in Cleveland
A blowout against the Cleveland Browns gets the Bolts to their best start since 2014 at 4-2 with big days from Melvin Gordon and Tyrell Williams.
A Chargers’ win to get to two games above .500 was the goal against the Browns, and they did just that. This team has certainly pulled it together from the mistakes they were making in the earlier weeks of the season. The offense looks like it can’t be stopped, and the defense, while missing Joey Bosa, still applied the pressure. Let’s get to the takeaways.
1. Have a day, Tyrell
Tyrell Williams, because he plays with a pretty great corps of receivers, has been forgotten at some points this season. He also had some games earlier in the year, particularly the one against the Kansas City Chiefs, where he had some pretty big drops.
He caught a huge ball on the play action to start the drive and put the Chargers in Browns territory and never looked back. Two clutch, long touchdown catches, including one in triple coverage, gave the Chargers a huge advantage.
Maybe you put an asterisk on the second touchdown since, well, it shouldn’t have counted with the Chargers false starting. But the Chargers have been running Keenan Allen and a receiver by committee so far.
It was an impressive performance for a guy who’s seemed to become Philip Rivers new big play bomb with the speedy Travis Benjamin hurt. Tyrell and Mike Williams complement Keenan Allen super well, and I’m impressed quite a bit after today.
2. Melvin Gordon keeps on trucking
While Tyrell Williams’ performance comes as a surprise, Melvin Gordon’s does not. He’s been the second-best back in the league this year, only behind Todd Gurley in my opinion.
Today was the first time since 2010 that the Chargers had a running back go for three touchdowns. In four of six games this season, Melvin has gone over 100 scrimmage yards. He’s gotten over 100 rushing yards in two of the last three games. The man can’t be stopped.
Of course, we knew Gordon was great. What we didn’t know before Sunday though was that the offensive line can really crack things open for him. The tight ends were great at blocking and creating huge holes for Gordon to rumble through. The line has been terrific the last two weeks. If they keep blocking like this for Gordon, he’s going to have some huge numbers.