Chargers stumble in loss to Commanders

Inglewood, CA (The Bulletin) – There are quite a few takeaways from the way the Los Angeles Chargers fell flat in a 27-10 defeat to the Washington Commanders at SoFi Stadium.

 The first bit of news is that the Chargers looked impressive at the beginning of the ballgame, taking the opening drive and scoring a touchdown. 

LA then tacked on a field goal to go up 10-0 by the time the first quarter ended. That is where, unfortunately, the superlatives stop for the Chargers. Washington would then spot the Chargers those 10 points and score 27 unanswered points of their own to cinch a solid road win against a suddenly reeling Chargers team. 

“Just have to get better,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said during his postgame press conference remarks. “Just have to get better. [We have to] work, get back to work, that’s the message.”

The loss to the Commanders marks the second straight defeat for the Chargers, who fell out of the unbeaten ranks following a loss to the New York Giants. As sterling as those first three victories were against AFC West opponents, the Chargers have lost consecutive games to NFC East teams.

In their first three games, the Chargers scored 20 points or more. In the two defeats, LA couldn’t crack the 20-point mark. Harbaugh talked about the difference in the games his ballclub won and the ones they’ve lost.  

“Without going through every single one of them, just knowing what to do, when to do [and] focus on one play at a time,” Harbaugh said. “The different ones that happened, I ended up going through them in my head. They’re correctable, but there’s been emphasis put on them, we just need to emphasize it more, practice it more, work on it more and get it to where it’s – we’re at our best when our best is needed most and that is one down at a time.”

Against Washington, the storyline for the Chargers was more about self-inflicted wounds more than anything that the Commanders had done. There were more than a handful missteps that cost the Chargers opportunities to halt potential scoring drives. 

A Quentin Johnston fumble put the brakes on one drive. A pass thrown by quarterback Justin Herbert that was picked off a yard before the goal line by Washington defensive back Mike Sainristil ended another potential scoring chance. Then there was the plethora of penalties (10 for 85 yards) that negated positive plays by Los Angeles.  

What the Chargers have to correct goes beyond penalties, Herbert said. 

“That’s just things that we have to be better at and stuff that we have to take a hard, long look at. We have to address that,” Herbert said. “The game is tough enough already. We’re making it tougher on ourselves when we do that, so it’s stuff that we have to fix and stuff, like we said earlier, is out of character so it’s on us to watch the film, get better from it and continue to harp on those little details.”

LA converted more than half of its third down attempts (9-16), controlled the time of possession (34:19 to 25:41) and accumulated 336 yards in total offense. Yet the theme of the day for the Chargers were unforced mistakes, miscues that eventually proved to be the team’s undoing against the visitors. 

One telling penalty took place right before the half when the Chargers were flagged for roughing the punter against Washington kicker Tress Way, who booted the ball from his own endzone. The punt was fielded by Ladd McConkey, who returned it 57 yards for an apparent touchdown. 

The play was called back. Washington got the ball back. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels then led the Commanders down the field to a field goal to end the first half with his team tied with the Chargers going into intermission. 

That seemed to define the whole afternoon for the Chargers. LA didn’t seem to be able to recover after that, although LA did have their chances in the second half. The one play that doomed the Chargers’ opportunity to get back in the game was Sainristil’s pick.

Herbert had wide receiver Keenan Allen in the endzone for what appeared would be a touchdown. However, the ball got batted and Sainristil was at the wrong place at the wrong time for the Chargers.   

“It’s just bad luck,” Herbert said. “It’s one of those plays that [WR] Keenan [Allen] was open, and I felt like I had it in good timing and good rhythm. The guy just made a good play. He got his hand up. Down there in the red zone the windows are so tight that you can’t have any room for error like that. The ball got tipped, got offline and he made a good play.”

This article appears courtesy of The Compton Bulletin