Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card
Quarterbacks A+
Under the blinding Sunday night lights, before Al, Cris and half of Pittsburgh’s noisy population, Justin Herbert entered like a rock star, playing loud, scoring on his first five drives, and totaling nearly 500 yards. Ran very effectively, as he should do more often. Overcame what would have been one of the great collapses in team history.
Running backs A+
Finally, they didn’t wait long to get Austin Ekeler into the game, and he ran in their first TD, caught their second, then their third on a brilliant catch and run, then ran in his fourth. Herbert (90 yards rushing) has to be included.
Receivers A
Mike Williams, playing hooky lately, showed up for class with three quick catches and then the 53-yarder to put his side up after blowing the lead. Donald “Stilt” Parham had a terrible early drop, then got with it. Rook Tre’ McKitty had a catch. Keenan Allen was as always. Real good.
Offensive line B
T Storm “Warning” Norton had a hold on what seemed to be just prior to kickoff and allowed a big sack with 4 minutes left. But they were OK.
Defensive line B
Tackles Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery and Christian Covington were absent from a group that has handled the run as it might Gamma rays. Much better this time. Off the bench, Breiden Fehoko had a goal line stop and Joe Gaziano made a TD-saving stop and was in on plenty of stuff — including a batted pass. Justin Jones batted a goal-line pass.
Linebackers B
Pass rush came late. Joey Bosa and Drew Tranquill were activated off the COVID list and Bosa quickly jumped offside, as did Uchenna Nwosu, then Bosa again (not to mention a late roughing call).
Secondary C
Safety Nasir Adderley returned. Asante Samuel Jr. got beat deep early in the second. He allowed a fade TD catch despite good coverage, but he did some nice things before exiting with a concussion.
Special teams F
Nothing changes. A penalty forced Ty Long to rekick his first punt of the night and it was blocked, leading to a TD early in the fourth quarter that totally changed the game. Dustin Hopkins kicked two field goals, and, brilliantly, didn’t miss an extra point.
Coaching B
Took a little over a half-season for Brandon Staley to enjoy his worst coaching nightmare become a dream win after Anthony Lynning a 17-point fourth-quarter lead. Went for it on fourth-and-short for a possible win, failed. Too young to know what a sneak is?
Next opportunity (at Broncos) F
Even when these kids were terrific, they had trouble at Mile High. The Broncos, coming off a bye, hold a 67-52-1 record over them in Denver. So 68-52-1 will not surprise.