Chargers’ running back combo a challenge for Browns
Gordon, Ekeler can threaten defenses in multiple ways.
BEREA — During a conference call this week, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers sounded as if he knows he’s a lucky guy.
He’s the beneficiary of having perhaps the NFL’s best running back tandem in Melvin Gordon III and Austin Ekeler.
In five games, Rivers has connected on 122 of 174 passes for 1,495 yards. He’s completing throws at a 70.1 percent clip with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. A strong run game normally equates to a strong pass game in the NFL, and Rivers said he appreciates what Gordon and Ekeler bring to the table.
“They complement each other very well. They both have some of the same attributes, but I think it is a nice one-two punch,” Rivers said. “They both catch it well, but we were able to get them on the field and we have gotten them on the field together more and more this season. They are both doing a heck of a job — run and pass game. They both pull for one another, and it is good to have those two guys.”
Gordon, 6 feet 1 and 215 pounds, leads the Chargers with 334 yards on 73 carries (4.6 average) and three touchdowns. Ekeler, 5 feet 10 and 200 pounds, has 203 yards on 34 carries (6.0 average).
Both have success on the field, but their collective strength lies in their differences, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said during a recent conference call.
“They have two different skill sets, but both are very talented,” Lynn said. “Melvin Gordon, he is the bell cow. Austin, he is a complement. When you can attack a defense that way with two different guys — I have always liked that formula — I think it can cause some problems.”
Browns coach Hue Jackson is well aware of those differences and the problems they present.
“Gordon is a physical runner. He is a downhill, get after it, get behind your pads [runner], but he has good lateral quickness,”
Jackson said. “The other guy is fast. This guy can catch, and he can run. He does a lot of different things with the ball.”
Browns middle linebacker Joe Schobert said he knows the team’s run defense, which ranks 22nd in the league at 116.6 yards per game, will receive a test. Having shared time at Wisconsin with Gordon and having playing against him in high school, Schobert said knows the back well.
“Just watching on film and going against Melvin in college and high school for me, personally, I know what he’s capable of, and he’s got great acceleration and great balance and vision,” Schobert said.
But he knows what Ekeler can do as well.
“Ekeler is just slippery inside the box,” Schobert said. “He can make a lot of people miss, and I think people take him too lightly when they tackle him because you see him breaking a lot of tackles on film.”
The best way to defend the Chargers’ run game?
“Just being able to play their gaps and not give ... open creases and get population to the ball,” Schobert said. “I think we should be fine.”
But that’s only half the battle, as Lynn said the duo is becoming increasingly more important to the Chargers’ potent passing offense, which ranks 13th in the NFL at 289.6 yards per game.
“Those guys are also developing in the passing game,” Lynn said. “They are catching the ball well. It is just not about carries anymore. It is about touches. Just figuring out ways to get the ball into the hands of your playmakers.”
Gordon is the team’s second-leading receiver with 28 catches for 261 yards (9.6 yards average) and Ekeler is fourth in the team with 14 catches for 207 yards (14.8 average).
“They screen to [Gordon]. They do it all to him,” Jackson said. “They have a pretty good 1-2 punch. We feel like we do, too. Our guys see our guys every day and our guys have been a challenge to them in practice. This will be a good matchup for our defense.
“But it is [Rivers] — it starts with him and will end with him. He is as good as there is. He distributes the ball, he runs their system, he knows how to play the catand-mouse game between completions and handing the ball off. It is going to be about [Rivers], but will this be the best run game we have seen all year? Probably so.”