LA Chargers: The good, bad and ugly in Week 1 win vs. Bengals

The good: Joshua Kelley, Jerry Tillery and the defense (before the fourth quarter)

There were three good things from this game that LA Chargers fans can hold tight to their chests moving forward. Let’s break them down.

Joshua Kelley:

The product of UCLA was fantastic in his NFL debut against the Bengals. Kelley not only scored the first touchdown of the season for the Chargers but he made several key runs, whether it was a 26-yard run on a third and short or putting the Bengals in a spin cycle in the backfield to turn a two-yard loss into an eight-yard game.

Kelley finished with 60 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. Justin Jackson did get hurt in the game and it is good knowing that the Chargers might have found the perfect partner back to play alongside Austin Ekeler.

Jerry Tillery:

Jerry Tillery really showed up in this game. He was constantly helping get pressure on the quarterback and made some big tackles near the line of scrimmage as well. He finished with a sack, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits.

Tillery did have a costly neutral zone infraction penalty on third and seven that allowed the Bengals to convert the first down, which led to Joe Burrow’s touchdown run. Aside from that, he was really solid.

Defense:

The defense was really good for most of his game. They limited the Bengals all game and forced two big turnovers in the second half that gave the Chargers the lead down the stretch. However, it was not all great for the defense. We will talk about that in a second.