Buccaneers dominate Chargers  

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Sunday was not a good day for the Los Angeles Chargers at the office. Fighting for a Wild Card playoff spot, the Chargers started their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the right foot. 

But the ending turned out to be a big ugly reality for Los Angeles. The reality for the Chargers was that they were flat-out outplayed and dominated by the visiting NFC South leaders.  

The Chargers were looking good with a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. Their defense recorded back-to-back turnovers in the period. It seemed that the inevitable would eventually translate into a victory for the Chargers. That didn’t happen. That’s because the Buccaneers had a different game plan.  

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston (1) scores on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during an NFL game played at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 15, 2024. Johnston’s score gave the Chargers a 17-10 lead against the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay outscored the Chargers 30-0 the rest of the game to record a 40-17 victory. Photo credit: Melinda Meijer/News4usonline

Spotting the Chargers that seven-point lead early in the game, Tampa Bay went on to outscore the Chargers 30-0 the rest of the way to record a stunning 40-17 win at SoFi Stadium. 

“From my vantage point, I mean, this is life,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “It’s football. We’ve seen the good times and today we’re staring at adversity. It’s how we respond. That’s where my mind is on to, getting ready for this next game.”  

The Chargers came into this game as the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL. That position didn’t mean a lot to Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay offense. Mayfield had an extraordinary day, completing 22 of 27 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns. 

“Just trying to build, continue to get better and better on offense,” Mayfield said. “Obviously would love to not be able to turn the ball over. [Would] love to have those back, but for us to continue to move the ball on whoever it is, just to execute. Obviously, I feel like we had a great plan going into it and the guys executed.”

The Buccaneers scored 27 of their 40 points in the second half. In losing their second straight game and soaking in their worst defeat of the season, the Chargers offense simply failed to move the ball in the second half. 

That could be spelled out in what the Chargers were able to do on third downs. 

Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James (3) puts the squeeze on Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) in a 40-17 defeat. Evans caught 9 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the Bucs’ win at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Dec. 15. 2024. Photo credit: Melinda Meijer

While the Buccaneers converted 9 of 15 third down attempts, the Chargers went blank, going 0 for 6. The Chargers managed just 206 yards in total offense. On the other side of the fence, Tampa Bay generated 506 yards worth of offense. 

“We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t coach well enough,” Harbaugh said. “It was pretty thorough. Very thorough and now we’re staring at that adversity. It’s how we respond.”

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who had a very pedestrian 195 yards passing after converting on 21 of his 33 pass attempts, said the team has to evaluate what happened in the loss and then move on.     

“You want to learn from it,” Herbert said. “You go through a game like this and it’s tough. You put all this work in throughout the week and we got beat today, we got beat badly. We have to do everything we can to learn from it and not let this one affect our next one.” 


Discover more from News4usonline

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Discover more from News4usonline

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading