Bosa returns, Chargers’ win streak continues

(News4usonline) – Edge rusher Joey Bosa returned to play in a football game for the first time for the Los Angeles Chargers since Sept. 25. Bosa injured his right groin and had to have surgery to fix the issue. 

As the Chargers continue their late-season surge with a 31-10 win against the Los Angeles Rams (5-11) in Week 17, Bosa got some playing time for the first time in months. 

He wound up with two tackles in his limited role. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was happy to see Bosa back out on the field with his teammates.  

 “I was glad to see him out there. He improves our chances significantly,” Staley said during his postgame press conference. “I think it was very important for him to get out there and play because the players know that they need to football shape, they need to get their pads on, they need to go play, they need to know what it’s like to go in and out, playing with pace. 

“You need to get all that football stuff acclimated so that you can go be your best. It was a good step for him today. I thought that he had a couple of really good rushes out there today. More than anything, it’s just him playing the game and getting that accumulation of snaps so that he can be better next week.”  

Getting each week is something the defense of the Chargers (10-6) has been doing as of late. Since surrendering 27 points in a Week 13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chargers have won their last four games. 

During those four games, the Chargers have given up 17, 14, 3, and 10 points, respectively to the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, and now the Rams. The Chargers kept that streak of playing excellent defense by keeping the Rams offense under wraps, holding quarterback Baker Mayfield to just 132 yards passing on the afternoon. 

The Rams had just 12 first downs and a total of only 48 plays that they ran against the Chargers. Mayfield was also sacked three times for 21 yards. Staley talked about the play of his defense.   

 “The first half, I thought that there were a couple of runs that I didn’t like,” Staley remarked. “The toss-crack, it just ruins your day. You feel like you had a good thing going, and then that toss-crack goes for 40-something [yards]. Then, the third down run for 23. Outside of those two runs, I was really happy with how we played. I really love the way we played in the second half. 

“I thought that in the second half, that was the type of team that we’ve been playing with for the last three games. I was very pleased with our second-half performance. I thought we rushed the passer really well today. I thought we covered extremely well, put a roof on the coverage. I felt like we were connected. We competed. There were some runs that weren’t up to our standard in the first half. At halftime, I thought that we made some good adjustments to play better in the second half.”

Offensively, things clicked through the air and on the ground. Wide receiver Mike Williams (7 receptions for 94 yards) was out doing highlight-reel one-handed catches while running back Austin Ekeler kept the pressure on the Rams’ defense by rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. 

Among those 10 rushes was a 72-yard jaunt to the endzone in the second quarter that gave Ekeler his second score of the ballgame.   

“It’s great for our offense,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said. “If we are able to run the ball and throw the ball, I think that is the balanced attack that we are going for. We think really highly of our offensive line, of our running backs. To see that today, we’re not surprised by the success at all.”

Ekeler’s big day on the ground allowed the Chargers to rush for 192 yards against the reigning Super Bowl champs.  

“They mixed up some different varieties and they were able to get some good surges and some good push,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “Obviously, the explosive [play] that Ekeler had for 72 [yards] ends up — I don’t want to say skewing the stats because they had good command, you don’t want to take away any credit they deserve — but things can look different when you have a 72-yarder. Not look different, but that’s a big part of why they ended up having success. It’s a really good offense. I thought they mixed it really well and they have great players.”