LA Chargers: Team grades in loss to Carolina Panthers
By Jason Reed
Defense: B
If it was not for the defense stepping up the LA Chargers might have lost this game by 20 points instead of five. The defense kept Carolina out of the endzone, for the most part, despite the Panthers getting in the red zone six times.
The defense was really good in the second half. They only allowed the Panthers to score three points and quite frankly, did not really even drive down the field at all. Joey Bosa came up with a huge tackle on third down in Carolina’s last drive that knocked them out of field goal range and at least gave the Chargers a chance.
Again, a B grade might seem a bit harsh, but there definitely are reasons for keeping the Chargers away from that lucrative A grade.
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First of all, while the defense was good in keeping Carolina out of the endzone, they could have limited the red zone trips and did allow the team to continue drives to get into scoring position. Sure, the Panthers were getting good field position, but just having one sooner stop could have flipped this entire game.
Plus, while I do not want to be negative, let’s not forget who this defense was playing.It is not like they were playing the Kansas City Chiefs again — they were playing the Carolina Panthers with a banged-up offensive line and no Christian McCaffrey.
The defense did just fine, but there was some area for improvement, hence the B grade instead of an A.