Rams Three Up with Ten Left
San Diego, February 10th, 2021: Hoping to repeat their upset of the undefeated Rams from three years ago, the Chargers were beaten today by the defending Super Bowl Champion Rams, but it was obvious they had closed the gap between the two clubs greatly. This game was actually competitive, and it didn't feel like an upset that would shock the PAFL football world as their victory three years ago did.
While the Chargers never led, they twice fell behind only to tie it up.
The score was tied at 21-all two minutes into the third quarter before the Rams put two more touchdown of their own on the board to open up a 35-21 lead late in the third quarter. While the Rams held on to win, the Chargers cut the lead to 35-28 and were threating to score in the final minute when the Rams defense finally stopped San Diego on downs near midfield.
The Rams got on the board first after an exchange of punts to start the game. They made it look easy, driving 68 yards in six plays to finish the drive with an eleven yard completion from Tom Brady to Alvin Kamara. The biggest play of the possession was a 25-yard completion deep across the middle to Travis Kelce to the Chargers 43.
But after an exchange of punts, the Chargers tied it up at 7-7 with a Daniel Jones to Courtland Sutton touchdown pass from 15 yards out. That was the final play of a ten-play drive spanning the end of the first quarter and the early minutes of the second quarter. The biggest play of the drive was Josh Jacobs run on second and 18 for 17 yards to establish the Chargers could move the ball effectively on the ground.
But the tie was short-lived as the Rams came right back to score on their next two possessions to go up 21-7 with 1:52 left in the half. Tom Brady threw his second touchdown pass of the game by closing out a five-play, 75 yard march with a 42 yard strike down the sideline to Julio Jones to retake the lead at 14-7. And after a three-and-out by the Chargers, the Rams went on a 13-play drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock and ended with a seven-yard touchdown run by recent trade acquisition Duke Johnson to make it 21-7.
It was obviously time for the Chargers to fold up their tents and go home. Concede the win, and live to play another day. But this is a different Charger team, which though lacking in talent in certain areas, makes up for it with a will to win and a fighting spirit that won't be denied.
They stormed back to score on back-to-back possessions themselves, sandwiched around the halftime gun. Their touchdown before the half took only two plays. With the Rams looking for Josh Jacobs, Daniel Jones faked to Jacobs and handed off to wideout Steven Sims on a jet sweep. It caught the Rams defense cheating towards Jacobs, and the rookie slot receiver was tackled at the Rams two -- after a 73-yard gain. Daniel Jones then took it over on the next play from two yards out to make it 21-14.
Brady and the Rams tried to score again in the final :52, but after two first downs got the ball to near midfield, four long passes by Brady failed to connect and the teams went to halftime with the Rams ahead by 21-14.
With the Rams concerned with the Chargers running attack, rookie quarterback Daniel Jones connected on three of four to open the second half to move the ball 75 yards for a touchdown. The possession started with Jones hitting Sutton down the middle for a 21-yard completion, and ended with Jones hitting Sutton down the sideline for the 47-yard touchdown. The touchdown tied the game at 21-21.
Just when it appeared the Chargers had taken the momentum back from the Rams, the Rams scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives for the second time in the game, to take a two-touchdown lead late in the third quarter at 35-21. Their first touchdown of the second half came on a three-yard run by Alvin Kamara that ended a six play, 80-yard drive highlighted by Julio Jones 25 yard reception that moved the ball into Charger territory. Their second -- and final -- touchdown of the second half came on Tom Brady's third touchdown pass of the game - this one to Davante Adams from eight yards out. The drive was sparked by consecutive passes from Brady to Travis Kelce of 16 and 23 yards. The touchdown gave the Rams a 35-21 lead with just over 17 minutes remaining in the contest.
After an exchange of punts, the Chargers took over at their own 32, and overcame a third and nine with a completion of 13 from Jones to Sutton, converted a third and two with a pass interference call against Trayvon Mullen, and picked up 11 by Daniel Jones on a run on fourth and one. Another penalty against the Rams - half the distance for a personal foul for grazing Daniel Jones helmet - converted a third and seven and moved the ball to the Rams five yard line. On second and five, Jacobs banged over from five yards out to close the gap to 35-28 with 6:55 left in the contest.
But that's the way it ended as the Rams took nearly four minutes off the clock before punting, and the Chargers, starting from their own nine, could only advance to their own 46 on a nine-play possession that picked up two first downs before sputtering to a stop with three consecutive incomplete passes by Jones.
GAME NOTES: The 28 points put up by the Chargers against the Rams defense is the most the Rams surrendered all year to date, and is one point more than what the Rams surrendered in their past four games combined (0-3-10-14).
Tom Brady was the MVP of the contest with three touchdown passes on 24 of 38 passing with 310 yards, and one sack, finishing with a 115.0 passer rating. Rookie quarternack Daniel Jones completed 14 of 28 for 179 yards and two scores, with one sack, putting up a decent 94.2 passer rating, his poorest in his last three outings. Neither quarterback threw a pick in a turnover-free game for both teams.
Alvin Kamara rushed for 110 yards on 15 rushes (7.3), scoring once on the ground and added another score on one of his four receptions for 41 yards. The Rams as a team had 150 yards on 28 rushes, a 5.4 per carry average.
Rookie wideout Steven Sims rushed once for 73 yards to lead the Chargers in rushing yards and added one reception for 11 yards and three kickoff returns for another 76, to finish with 160 total yards on five touches (32.0), but the rookie running backs contributed another 79 between them on 20 rushes (4.0). The Chargers actually outgained the Rams on the ground on fewer rushes, picking up 166 on 24 attempts (6.9 per). A big chunk of that was of course the one big gain on the ground by Sims.
Travis Kelce caught seven for 102 and Julio Jones was close with five for 98 yards and one score. Courtland Sutton was the biggest receiver for the Chargers with four for 96 and one score. Ricky Seals-Jones has apparently surplanted rookie Foster Moreau as the tight end, as Moreau was not targeted and Seals-Jones was targeted seven times, catching three for 25 yards (8.3).
Linebacker Dont'e Hightower, although not the leading tackler, had a sack and a pass defensed as well as four tackles for the Rams. Three other players, linebacker Clay Matthews, defensive tackle P.J. Hall, and cornerback Trayvon Mullen had five tackles but no other stats. For the Chargers, defensive tackle Andrew Billings was the standout, with four tackles, a sack, a stuff, and one hurry. Four players had five tackles each, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, linebackers Tyus Bowser and Ryan Anderson, and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
TEAMS IN OPPOSITION: The Rams ran off 67 plays to the Chargers 53, and as you might expect, had nearly a six minute edge in time of possession as a result. And without getting into the whole chicken-and-egg thing in any depth, also picked up 25 first downs to the Chargers 15, and held a 450 - 335 edge in yards from scrimmage. But neither team had a turnover, and in converting third and fourth downs, the Chargers held a slight edge, making eight of 16 to the Rams seven of 16. Both teams were perfect in the red zone, but the Rams made one more trip, going four for four to the Chargers three for three, and that might have spelled the difference in the game.
YEAR TO DATE: The Chargers 3-3 record after six games ties for the best record for a Charger team after six games under Hank Sienzant. They did that two years ago only to finish with a 6-10 record. They have hopes their final record this year will be better, although that remains to be seen.
Charger rookie quarterback Daniel Jones is playing reasonably well for a rookie. He has a passer rating of 100.4 and has thrown 14 touchdown passes to date, which puts him in a tie for sixth in that category at present, just two behind the leaders, Kirk Cousins and Tom Brady. He's also thrown five picks and had nine fumbles, recovering six. He's added a hitherto missing rushing dimension that helps keeps the defenses honest, picking up 148 yards on 21 runs (7.0).
Rookie running back Josh Jacobs is now sixth in the league with 492 yards rushing. Fellow rookie running back David Montgomery has 404 yards on the ground, good for 12th in the league. They are third and fifth in the league in average, with Jacobs at 6.3 and Montgomery averaging 6.4 a carry.
Rookie wide out (are we noticing a trend?) Steven Sims has put up 538 total all-purpose yards, which includes rushing (85), receiving (65), kickoff returns (362) and punt returns (26). Second year wideout Courtland Sutton already has seven touchdown receptions, best in the league among wideouts, and second to only Dallas tight end Jason Witten.
NEXT MAN UP: There were no injuries of note. Stephon Tuitt remains out for the Rams, while cornerback Jimmy Smith is nearing a return. He can be back by week eight or nine. Linebacker Myles Jack and tight end David Njoku are at least a month or more from getting back on the field.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Rams face off against the defensive wizardry of Carolina, who held their first five opponents to just 27 points in total (including three straight shutouts), before losing to the Vikings 27-15 this week. The Chargers go on the road against the 1-5 Saints, who dropped their most recent game at Washington, 28-16.
Posted on 12 Feb 2021 by Hank-Chargers
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