The LA Chargers hosted the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football with Brandon Staley's job likely on the line. A loss against the Bears may have ended Staley's tenure as the Bolts' head coach while a win kept the team close enough to make a playoff push.
When the dust settled, Staley and the Bolts emerged victoriously over the Bears in what was a fairly comfortable win. This is exactly the kind of low-stakes win that the Chargers needed at this point of the season. Hopefully, for fans, it can snowball into some serious momentum for the team.
While it is hard to completely gauge the Chargers in a game against a bad team like the Bears, there were still some positive takeaways (and one concerning) that fans can fall back on.
Positive Chargers takeaway: Austin Ekeler is still an elite pass-catcher
Austin Ekeler has not done much this season. He was fantastic in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins, missed three games after that, and has not been the same since coming back from the ankle sprain after the Chargers' bye week.
While Ekeler still did not run the ball well, he reminded everyone that he is still an elite pass-catching option. The Chargers' offense was humming in the first half and Ekeler being a reliable outlet pass-catcher was a big reason why.
Ekeler had his best game since Week 1 and even got the Chargers on the board with a long touchdown reception in the first quarter. With multiple injuries on offense, the Chargers are going to need to lean on Ekeler as a pass-catching option.
Positive Chargers takeaway: The run defense was great
Brandon Staley's defense built on a strong second half against the Kansas City Chiefs and turned in the most complete game of the season against the Bears. That being said, it is the Bears we are talking about and it is not like the team has an explosive offense.
It is really easy to play defense against a backup rookie quarterback who was in Division 2 a year ago. Both of the Chargers' great defensive games came against backup rookie quarterbacks, so fans should refrain from thinking that there is some kind of defensive resurgence.
All that being said, one area where fans can feel great about is the run defense. While it was by no means perfect in this game, the Chargers were really good against the run and were able to keep the Bears' running game from making Tyson Bagent's life any easier.
This run defense has come a very long way from where it was in 2021. The Chargers had one of the worst run defenses in NFL history and it has continuously gotten better as Staley's tenure has continued.
The secondary still has massive question marks and needs to figure it out if this defense is going to be half-decent, but at least the run defense is solid.
Positive Chargers takeaway: Justin Herbert looked like his usual self
Justin Herbert is undoubtedly one of the five best quarterbacks in the entire league. There is a case to be made that he is on the higher end of that spectrum even, but at the very worst he is a top-five quarterback in the NFL.
Coming out of the bye, though, Herbert was not playing like a top-five quarterback. Herbert turned in back-to-back mediocre performances and was one of the biggest people at fault for the team's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Pointing out that Herbert struggled was not meant to be a dig at the young quarterback or an attempt to say that he isn't elite. It was simply pointing out the obvious that Herbert was struggling and not living up to his standards. It is okay to admit that.
Herbert's struggles did not extend into a third game. The star quarterback looked much more like his usual self, starting the game off with a red-hot stretch where he could not make a single mistake. Overall, Herbert completed 31 of 40 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns. Almost every other quarterback in the league would die for that kind of performance.
It was not the best Herbert game (as his standards are so high) but it was certainly a great one. Chargers fans should be happy with how Herbert slung the football on Sunday night.
Negative Chargers takeaway: The second-half offense sputtered again
One of the most frustrating things about Joe Lombardi's offense last season for the Chargers was the inability to adjust during the game. As a result, the offense would typically sputter in the second half, creating a months-long stretch of the season where the Chargers did not score in the third quarter.
Kellen Moore has done a much better job overall with the Chargers offense than Lombardi did a year ago. However, the second-half woes have still followed the Chargers and continued to follow the team in this game specifically.
The Chargers scored 24 points in the first half and it did not look like the team could do any wrong. Meanwhile, in the second half, the Chargers kicked just two field goals and one of them came because of a Chicago turnover in its own territory.
Granted, the Chargers took their foot off the gas and didn't want to show too much in a game that was already out of reach for Chicago but it has still become a trend for the Chargers. The fact that it is a trend is what is so concerning.
The Chargers were shut out in the second half against the Chiefs, 10 points in the second half against the Cowboys (only three in the third quarter), and no points in the second half against the Raiders before the bye week.