Report Card: Position grades for Chargers Week 3 loss

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CARSON, CA – SEPTEMBER 22: Wide receiver Keenan Allen #13 of the Los Angeles Chargers cuts past strong safety Justin Reid #20 of the Houston Texans and runs for a touchdown in the second quarter at Dignity Health Sports Park on September 22, 2019, in Carson, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Chargers Grades: Continued

Running Backs: B-

Not a whole lot to say here about the running backs other than they didn’t get nearly enough use.

Austin Ekeler ran it a measly nine times for 36 yards while Justin Jackson contributed 26 yards on five totes. In all the Chargers rushed 18 times for 73 yards, a 4.1 yards-per-carry mark.

The Bolts abandoned the run far too early in this game for my taste, with only 8 of 32 offensive snaps in the first half going on the ground. As any offensive lineman will tell you, run blocking is far easier than pass blocking, but pass blocking is made much easier by establishing the run.

The Charger’s O-line has been suspect at best, and by giving up the ground game as early as they did, Ken Wisenhunt’s crew did not do the guys up front any favors.

Wide Receivers: B-

Hold on, let me fix something real quick:

Keenan Allen: A+++, Everyone Else: B-

There we go. Let’s start with the good. Allen had a career day with 183 yards on 13 catches and two touchdowns. That is one of those stat-filling wonders that makes you oh-so-happy that Allen is a Los Angeles Charger.

On the other side of things, the rest of the receiving corps was a relative non-factor. No one other than Allen eclipsed 50 yards on the day, and the only two players to catch multiple passes were the aforementioned Ekeler (seven catches for 45 yards) and Mike Williams (three catches for 45 yards).

The unit almost earns a C based on the performance of Travis Benjamin who recorded only two catches for five yards while dropping several balls including one in the end-zone on the Chargers final drive.

Every game seems to further accentuate how much this team needs Hunter Henry to heal quickly.