LA Chargers: Team grades in the shocking Justin Herbert Chiefs’ game

The offensive line and run game

The offensive line play was genuinely superb today. It was good last week, but the addition of Trai Turner back from injury took it to another level. His help in the run game and his stifling of Chris Jones was so crucial for the LA Chargers. He should’ve been called for the blatantly missed false start though.

Bryan Bulaga started the game but left with a knee injury early on. Trey Pipkins started the remainder of the game. He wasn’t greatly tested at any point, but credit to him for filling in at right tackle on such short notice.

I was super, super impressed by the left side in particular. Other than a holding penalty on Sam Tevi, the Chiefs’ front seven was absolutely worked by Dan Feeney, Tevi, and Forrest Lamp. All three followed up their solid Cincinnati outings with great run and pass blocking here. The Chiefs missed Khalen Saunders, but most defensive linemen were held very well in check. Especially Frank Clark.

Austin Ekeler certainly got more involved as a receiver this week while keeping his rushing production in a good place. 20 touches for 148 yards feels like a much better week for the effective rushing and receiving back. It’s truly shocking that Ekeler goes off when you start using well-timed screens again!

Joshua Kelley got 23 rushing attempts in this game for 64 yards. While I like Kelley, it felt like they should’ve slowed their roll with his usage in this game. He was good when it came to short-yardage situations, but didn’t have quite the level of efficiency shown in Cincinnati. It’s hard to support Kelley getting 25 touches to Ekeler’s 20.

Offensive Line: A-

Running backs: B-