Mucho Thanks to my brother Walt (Oakland) for subbing for Bill Howell of Atlanta, who is still having computer problems.
Daniel Jones Throws for Four TDs in Comeback
Atlanta, January 28th, 2021: The San Diego Chargers overcame a horrendous start in which rookie quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked four times, fumbled three times, threw a pick-six, and was almost yanked from the game for the second time in his last three starts. They fell behind the Falcons 21-7 in the second quarter after Jones' ill-advised pick-six.
COMING BACK FROM THE BRINK
The Chargers were back on their heels, and head coach Hank Sienzant, miked for the game, could be heard on the sideline discussing whether to yank Jones. Ultimately, he decided to "Let the kid play. We've got to see what we've got".
And after Jones' fourth sack of the first half (and third fumble) was called back with 1:27 left in the half by an encroachment penalty, Jones and the Chargers righted their listing ship and outscored the Falcons 28-3 over the remainder of the game to win 35-24 and even their record at 2-2. The Falcons fell to 0-4 in the NFC West.
RUN TO WIN
While three of the final four touchdowns (and four of five touchdowns overall) the Chargers scored came on the right arm of Jones, it was the Chargers running attack that truly carried them to victory. The Chargers gained 83 yards in the first half on 12 rushes (6.9 average), but put up an additional 223 on only 17 rushes (13.1 per rush) in the second half. That's 306 for the game. On the ground. It looks like the Chargers are taking the biblical injunction in 1 Corinthians 9:24 seriously this year: "Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win."
Although Daniel Jones got the game MVP award on the strength of his four touchdown passes, it was rookie running backs David Montgomery and Josh Jacobs, the other two-thirds of the rookie triplets the Chargers are starting (along with Jones), that carried the Chargers to the comeback win today.
In the second half alone, Josh Jacobs ran for 73 yards on 9 carries (8.1) and David Montgomery put up 107 yards on just five rushes (21.4).
JONES PULLS IT TOGETHER
But none of those heroics come without Daniel Jones overcoming his early mistakes - including his sack / fumble to start the Chargers final possession of the first half - and leading the Chargers to a touchdown with just 27 seconds left in that half to cut the Falcons lead to 21-14. Given a reprieve when his sack / fumble was nullified by penalty, Jones rallied to complete four of five for 58 yards and a short touchdown pass to wideout Courtland Sutton from six yards out. The biggest play of the possession came on the play prior to the touchdown when Jones found Sutton running free for a 37-yard gain to the Falcons six.
The apparent befuddlement by Jones on that called-back sack-fumble was a calculated risk by Jones, and showed his growth. Jones explained he recognized the defensive offside when it happened and knew he had a free play. "I knew the worst that could happen was we'd take the offside penalty." he explained. "So I was trying to make something big happen there, because we had nothing to lose. The sack and fumble wasn't going to count no matter what."
The Falcons, who deferred to start the game, took the second half kickoff and patiently drove to the Chargers 23, where Matt Ryan's passes went awry and Atlanta had to settle for the Michael Badgley 41 yard field to up their lead to 24-14. No play gained more than nine yards on the 11-play, 46-yard drive. The Falcons, who had scored only nine points in their first three games combined, had nearly tripled that in the first 36 minutes against the Chargers defense. But that was to be the last points they would score, although no one knew it at the time.
Running on every down to start the next possession, the Montgomery-Jacobs combo picked up 34 yards to start the drive, and then three consecutive Jones completions finished it, with Sutton catching the final two for first 22 yards and then 12 yards and the touchdown to cut Atlanta's lead to just three at 24-21.
TAKING THE LEAD
The next drive for the Chargers started after a Michael Palardy punt went out of bounds at the San Diego eight yard line. Needing 92 yards to take the lead, it took the Chargers only five plays to do it, and give the Chargers their first lead of the contest. The first four plays of the march were on the ground and gained 89 of the needed 92 yards. First it was Josh Jacobs breaking off his longest run of the season to date, picking up 40 on an off-tackle run to the Chargers 48. David Montgomery followed with 12 more on the same play to the Falcon 40. On the final play of the third quarter, wide receiver Albert Wilson took a jet sweep for 20 more to the Atlanta 20. And Daniel Jones, on a scramble, ran for 17 to the Falcon three. Jones finished the drive by hitting wideout Stephen Sims on a short hitch just inside the goal line for the touchdown and the Chargers first lead of the game at 28-24 with 14:09 left.
The Chargers weren't finished. After three punts, two by the Falcons and one by the Chargers, the Chargers started their final scoring drive at their own 13. A holding penalty wiped out a 14-yard run by Montgomery, and left the Chargers in a first and 17 hole backed up to their own six. But after a run for five by Jacobs and a pass to John Ross for 11, the Chargers faced a third and one. The Chargers lined up in a full-house backfield, the Falcons went to a 5-2, and it was mano a mano on the line as David Montgomery took the handoff to the right behind an excellent trap block by Quenton Nelson, and when the dust cleared, it was David Montgomery being tackled by safety Jamal Adams at the Falcon nine yard line after a 69-yard run. Two Jacobs runs finished the drive with a touchdown with just 2:36 to play to boost the Chargers to an 11-point lead at 35-24 and ensure their win. All but 11 yards on that possession came on the ground.
FALLING BEHIND AT THE START
But the game certainly didn’t start that way. The Falcons took control early and scored on their opening possession after forcing a Chargers punt, with the touchdown coming on a Matt Ryan to Isaiah Ford four-yard touchdown pass to end the 94-yard, 14-play march taking nearly half the first quarter in time of possession.
Early in the second quarter the Broncos came back to tie the game on the Daniel Jones to John Ross 15-yard touchdown pass to end an 80-yard drive that took ten plays and five and a half minutes off the clock. That drive featured a 24-yard run by Jacobs and the Chargers and Jones overcoming a second and 19 after a sack of Jones and a fumble by Jones, with Jones recovering. The Chargers also had to convert a fourth and inches from the Atlanta 34 to keep the drive alive. The Ross score tied the game at 7-7.
DANIEL JONES MELTS DOWN
But then Daniel Jones took control of the game.
For the Falcons.
Turning the ball over first on a fumble and then on a interception, Jones handed the Falcons two quick scores and a 21-7 lead in the space of just over a minute.
First, Jones was sacked by outside linebacker Vic Beasley, losing 11 yards and fumbling, with inside backer Troy Reeder recovering the ball at the San Diego ten yard line. It took only one play for the Falcons to capitalize on the opportunity, with Ryan hitting running back Mark Ingram in the flat and Ingram racing to the end zone for the score.
Beasley got back-to-back sacks with his second sack of the contest on another sack of Jones to start the Chargers next possession, forcing the Chargers into an eventual third and 21 situation from their own 14. Throwing long from there, Jones tried to hit Courtland Sutton with the pass but it was snatched away by cornerback Casey Hayward and returned 36 yards for the touchdown and a 21-7 Atlanta lead.
GAME NOTES: Believe it or not, this was Daniel Jones best game to date, which either tells you how poorly he's played or how resilient he is, or maybe both. Jones finished with passing stats of 15 of 20 for 161 yards and four touchdowns. He also added 45 yards on the ground on five scrambles. But on the debit side of the ledger, he took three sacks, had another two fumbles (with a fourth sack and third fumble called back on a defensive penalty) and one interception. But his passing game stats gave him a 116.9 rating and the MVP of the contest - the passer rating formula doesn't take into account fumbles or sacks.
After a quarter of the season, Jones now has eight fumbles and five picks through four games but the Chargers are somehow at 2-2 and not 0-4 as you might expect from those numbers. He's also thrown ten touchdown passes in those four games, which puts him on a 40-touchdown, 20-pick, 32-fumble trajectory and the Chargers on pace for an 8-8 record. Right now, he's got the highest percentage of interceptions in the league (5.4%) AND the highest percentage of touchdown passes (10.9%) as well. Yeah, we can't figure it out either.
David Montgomery was the leading rusher in the game for the Chargers as he picked up 134 yards on just nine carries (14.9). Josh Jacobs also broke the 100-yard barrier as he finished with 14-107 (7.6) and one touchdown rushing. Jacobs tied his previous high of 107 yards he set against the Cardinals in week one, while Montgomery's previous high was 87 in week one as well.
Right now, both Jacobs and Montgomery are averaging seven yards a carry or more, and project to 1460 and 1360 yards respectively for the season on the ground. Jacobs is averaging 7.0 a rush and Montgomery an otherworldly 7.6. Only quarterback Lamar Jackson of Buffalo is his equal at this point, also with a 7.6 average.
Wideout Albert Wilson rushed for 20 on one carry and was also the Chargers leading receiver with five catches for 37 yards (7.4). Courtland Sutton led the Chargers in receiving yards and scoring with four receptions for 77 yards (19.3) and two scores.
For the Falcons, Matt Ryan completed 18 of 32 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, with no picks. He was sacked only once, and ended up with a 95.2 passer rating.
Mark Ingram rushed 16 times for 74 yards (4.6) and caught three (tying for the Falcons lead in receptions) for another 30 yards. But it was Taysom Hill who lead Atlanta in receiving yards with two receptions for 50 yards, including a 42-yard reception on a long bomb.
Late in the contest, Tracy Walker had an interception off Matt Ryan nullified by a cheap shot roughing the passer by Matt Ioannidis on a late hit of Ryan.
Cornerback Marshon Lattimore and rookie linebacker Bobby Okereke shared the team lead in tackles with ten apiece. Hayward was the defensive standout for the Falcons with six tackles and the pick six that was the Falcons last touchdown of the contest.
NEXT MAN UP: There were no new injuries of note in the game. The Chargers are still short nickel corner Jimmy Smith and tight end David Njoku, while the Falcons are minus rookie defensive end Zach Allen.
A LOOK AHEAD: The 0-4 Falcons travel to Oakland to face the winless 0-4 Raiders. Something's got to give. The Chargers return home to host the 1-3 Washington Football Team. Washington faces the undefeated Eagles this week. The Chargers, with a victory over Washington next week, will go over .500 for the first time under Hank Sienzant in his four years on the job.
The last two years they have been 2-3 after five games and in Hank Sienzant's first year they were winless through eight games before they got their first ever win under Sienzant against the previously undefeated Rams in week nine. Yeah, you read that right. -- The 0-8 Chargers upset the Super-Bowl bound 8-0 Rams. The Chargers however finished that year 2-14, never getting a third win. Two years ago, they got their third win in week seven, and last year it took them until week nine to win their third game. The past two seasons the Chargers finished with identical 6-10 records and are hopeful for at least a .500 record this season.
Posted on 28 Jan 2021 by Hank-Chargers
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