3. So… the Refs?
Alright. It’s time to talk about the refs. The Chargers absolutely got one over on the Steelers with the Travis Benjamin touchdown. There’s no debate that play was a false start. But frankly, missed calls happen.
The other contested call was no illegal block in the back on the Desmond King Punt Return. I personally was 50-50 on that call, and thought it could’ve gone either way. But Steelers fans have an absolute right to be mad on the Chargers’ first touchdown.
But to that I say, tough luck. It’s football. You get some, you don’t get some. The Steelers still blew a 16-point lead at the end of the day, and I feel that being thrice offsides at the end of the game might lessen your ability to complain as far as calls are concerned. Also, the Chargers still wound up with more penalty yards.
And to every Steelers fan who wants to complain about officiating, let me show you a couple beauties:
The plethora of calls that kept the Steelers in the Browns game this year
The Hochuli Chargers-Broncos Game
Point is, sometimes you get calls in this league, and sometimes you don’t. End of discussion there. Spare me the whining.
4. Justin Jackson comes up clutch
The Chargers couldn’t gain much at all on the ground in the first half. A whole two yards, to be exact. Now, part of that is that Austin Ekeler isn’t great between tackles, along with the offensive line playing worse in the first half. It seemed like nothing would get going for the entire game.
Enter Justin Jackson, the team’s seventh-round pick, who got a chance to shine in the midst of Gordon’s absence and Ekeler’s struggles. He played great behind the O-Line.
Some athletic moves between tackles, terrific cuts and a clutch touchdown run to give the Chargers their first lead of the game. He put the run game on his back and succeeded.
In the last two games following Gordon’s injury, Jackson is now averaging eight yards a carry. With Ekeler being a screen guy and a mostly receiving running back, Jackson has earned the right in the last two games to be the second running back behind Gordon once he returns.