Daniel Jones, Josh Jacobs, Vonn Bell Come Up Big
SAN DIEGO, FEBRUARY 24th, 2021: The Chargers escaped with a win but it came down to the wire as Jared Goff led a comeback attempt that reached the Chargers 11 yard line before a Vonn Bell strip-sack in the final seconds helped stop the Lions assault. With the win, the Chargers raised their record to 5-3, and the Lions fell to 1-7 on the season. The Chargers previous high-water mark at the midpoint of the season was 3-5 in each of the last two years.
The Charger win (with a Minnesota loss and a Green Bay victory) puts the Chargers as the sixth seed if the playoffs were to start today. Chicago would win the NFC Central, and that leaves Green Bay and Minnesota tied with the Chargers at 5-3, and the Chargers edge out those two for the sixth seed based on the tiebreakers. Hank Sienzant cautioned against getting too excited over this. "The post-season doesn't start today, and we haven't won anything yet. All it means is we haven't fouled up enough to be eliminated halfway through the season," he said.
Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones of the Chargers was the MVP of the contest and had his fourth consecutive turnover-free game as he threw three touchdown passes to stay on a pace for forty touchdowns as a rookie. This after he had eight fumbles and threw five interceptions in his first four games and looked like a wasted first round draft pick for the Chargers.
He certainly changed Detroit's mind in a hurry. They came out keying the run, but after a roughing the kicker call on a Chargers punt gave the Chargers a first down at their own 45, Jones hit Courtland Sutton for a 55-yard bomb on his first pass of the game to give the Chargers a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
But Jared Goff shook off a nine-yard loss on a sack on his first pass attempt to lead the Lions to a tying touchdown, driving 75 yards in eleven plays. Goff hit Leonard Fournette with a checkdown for the score from four yards out. Shortly before that, Goff found tight end T.J. Hockenson on a short crossing pass and Hockenson seemed to run forever, finally getting tackled at the Chargers 23 after a 46-yard gain.
But Daniel Jones came back with his second touchdown pass to make it 14-7 on the Chargers next possession, driving 75 yards in eleven plays to score on a Moreau nine yard reception on first and goal.
The Chargers opened up a 20-7 lead on two short Stephen Hauschka field goals of 21 and 27 yards, both times getting stopped inside the ten by the Lions defense. The first of those two field goals came after a 15-play, 70-yard drive to the Lions three yard line that took 6:21 off the clock. The second one came after a JoJo Natson punt return of 26 yards set the Chargers up in Lions territory at the Lions 43, but the Lions defense was up to the challenge once more, stopping the Chargers inside the ten once more.
The Lions blew an opportunity to add at least a field goal before the half when they mismanaged the clock, with time expiring with the ball on the Chargers 15 after a Fournette 11 yard run that failed to get out of bounds.
And after taking the second half kickoff, they got as close as the Chargers 34 before safety Vonn Bell stepped up, picking off a pass intending for Marquez Valdes-Scantling at the Charger 23 and returning it 14 yards.
The third quarter was scoreless as the Lions monopolized the time of possession but failing to put any points on the board as all the Chargers could muster in the quarter was two three-and-outs.
In a possession starting with 5:38 left in the third quarter, the Lions got their second touchdown when Fornette was credited with reaching the ball over the goal line on third and inches on replay. The play was originally marked as a one-yard loss for Fournette by the officials on the field. That scoring drive took 8:46 off the clock, took 14 plays, and went 82 yards. The Fournette touchdown cut the Chargers lead to 20-14 with 11:59 left in the contest.
But the Chargers came back to extend their lead to nine- points on another short Stephen Hauschka field goal, this one of 26 yards to make it 23-14 with just 7:14 left in the contest. But that means of course another stop by the Lions defense, this time stopping the Chargers at the Lions eight after the Chargers had driven 67 yards in eleven plays. The biggest plays were a 15-yard face masking call against the Lions and a 20-yard run by Steven Sims on a Jet sweep.
Trailing by nine, the Lions took only four plays to go 75 yards, with Goff finding Valdes-Scantling running free across the middle for a 53-yard catch and run to cut the Chargers lead to only two points with 6:43 left, taking only 30 seconds off the clock on their possession and getting the score to 23-21 in favor of the Chargers.
Having held the Chargers to only three points in the second half, and having come back from 20-7 down, suddenly all things looked possible for the Lions.
But an onside kick attempt failed, giving the ball to the Chargers at the Charger 46. And the Lions didn't count on Josh Jacobs, who came up big on the ensuing Charger drive. Jacobs gained seven yards on a checkdown to start the Chargers off, then followed that up with a 29 yard run right up the middle on the next play to move the ball deep into Lions territory to the Lions 18. On fourth and one from the Lions nine, Jacobs ran for five up the middle, and then caught a checkdown from Jones against a blitz on the next play and walked into the end zone for the score to make it 29-21 with just 2:26 left in the contest. With the extra point, it would be a nine-point lead and if you listened closely, you could almost hear Don Meredith singing "Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over". But Stephen Hauschka missed the all-important extra point -- his fourth of the season -- leaving it at an eight point lead and setting up the fantastic finish that fell just short thanks to Vonn Bell's sack on third and two that put the Lions into a fourth and seven they were unable to convert.
GAME NOTES: The Chargers, who have three solid safeties in Vonn Bell, Tracy Walker, and rookie Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, got a great game from Vonn Bell to help defeat the Lions. His interception in the third quarter stopped one Lion drive and his sack on the Lions final drive was a key play that helped thwart Detroit's attempt to tie the game in the final seconds. He deserved half the MVP award, or at least honorable mention. He finished with three tackles, a pick, a sack, a pass defensed, and a forced fumble.
It was Daniel Jones that got the MVP award, and for the fourth time in the last five games, he put up a passer rating of 116.9 or better. Today he finished with a 117.7 rating, on 16 of 27 for 189 yards and three touchdowns, with no picks. He was sacked twice, but did not fumble.
Jared Goff, his opposite number on the Lions, throwing more frequently, finished with 26 of 39 for 327 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception and two sacks. He had a solid 99.0 passer rating.
The big difference was in rushing yardage. The Chargers finished with 205 yards on the ground on 31 rushes, for a 6.6 yard average. The Chargers were paced by their rookies, as Josh Jacobs rushed 15 times for 110 yards (7.3 per carry) and added 39 additional yards on six receptions. His six receptions led the team.
Three other rookies combined for another 95 yards on the ground on 16 rushes, with David Montgomery adding 65 on 14 carriess (4.6), Steven Sims rushing once for 20, and Daniel Jones once for ten.
The Lions could muster only 79 yards (3.6 per) on 22 rushes, with only Leonard Fournette getting more than 13 yards. Fournette finished with 14 for 63 (4.5) and one touchdown on the ground. He added two receptions for 11 yards and one more touchdown.
Randall Cobb was the Lions leading receiver with six receptions for 56 yards. T.J. Hockenson caught three for 68, but it was Valdes-Scantling and Leonard Fournette who scored on receptions.
Courtland Sutton caught just two passes but gained 60 yards and scored once, on a 55-yarder.
Levi Wallace was the Chargers leading tackler with nine, and added a pass defensed. Safety Tashaun Gipson had seven tackles and one pass defensed for the Lions.
Stephen Hauschka missed his fourth extra point to put him at 24 of 28 (85.7%) but is perfect on field goals. He had only three field goal attempts in the prior seven games, making them all, and went three for three against Detroit. His misses hasn't cost the Chargers a game yet, but they have affected in-game decisions and potentially could have cost the Chargers two games (against Arizona in week one and again against Detroit). Head coach Hank Sienzant said the misses are "concerning", but they aren't prepared to make any moves at present.
TEAMS IN OPPOSITION: The game was relatively evenly match as you might expect for a contest that went down to the wire. The Lions had more first downs (22 to 20) and more yards from scrimmage (392 to 377) but the Chargers had a better time of possession (31:43 to 28:17) and more red zone appearances (five in total, scoring two touchdowns and three field goals to the Lions three appearances and two touchdowns. The final red zone appearance for the Lions in the game was on the Lions final possession, when they failed to convert a fourth and seven from the Chargers 16).
SEASON TO DATE: Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has thrown 20 touchdown passes on 188 pass attempts for a league-leading touchdown percentage of 10.6. He raised his passer rating to 110.8, which is good right now for tenth in the league among qualifiers (two players, Jacoby Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater, are listed ahead of Jones but neither have the requisite amount of attempts -- 14 per game -- to be qualified).
Rookie running back Josh Jacobs at present is second in the league in rushing with 731 yards on just 108 carries. His 6.8 rushing average is tied for the best in the league among running backs with Miles Sanders). Fellow rookie running back David Montgomery's 546 yards on 96 carries is good for eleventh best in the league right now, and his 5.7 average puts him for fifth place overall. Jacobs and Montgomery are both on pace for 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Courtland Sutton's 20.4 receiving average is good for best in the league, and his nine touchdown receptions ties him for first overall with tight end Jason Witton of the Cowboys.
NEXT MAN UP: The Lions lost defensive tackle Antwaun Woods for the next month or more with a hip injury. The Chargers held out nickel corner Jimmy Smith, and he's now fully healthy and ready to go and should give the Chargers pass defense a bit of a boost over the final half of the season after missing the last seven games.
A LOOK AHEAD: The 1-7 Lions host the 5-2 (as of this writing) Miami Dolphins next week. The Chargers visit the undefeated 8-0 Dallas Cowboys next week and Hank Sienzant, a long-time critic of JFK conspiracy theories, says the team won't be visiting the Sixth Floor Museum (the building formerly known as the Texas School Book Depository, from where Oswald shot and killed the President) until after the game. "We'll have a walk-through arranged for the players before our plane flight back home," he said. "Anyone who visits Dallas should really make at least one trip to Dealey Plaza," he said. "Dealey Plaza is hallowed ground".
Posted on 24 Feb 2021 by Hank-Chargers
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