The Chargers now play with some edge

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Los Angeles Chargers won their fourth game of the season with a 26-8 win against the New Orleans Saints. It was not artistically pretty, but the Chargers will take the victory. The Saints absorbed their sixth straight defeat.   

“Yeah, the message is – it’s the people in the room in there that are going to have to change it,” New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen said. “Nobody’s coming from outside the building. It’s going to have to be the guys that are in that locker room, coaches to fix it. That’s what it is.” 

A big reason the Chargers were able to dispatch the Saints was that New Orleans’s offense was awful, especially in the first half. The Saints looked like a rudderless ship on the ocean somewhere trying to figure out which way to go. 

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws the ball downfield against the New Orleans Saints during an NFL game played at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 27, 2024. Herbert passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the Chargers’ 26-8 win. Photo credit: Mark Hammond/News4usonline

With starting quarterback Derek Carr sidelined because of an injury, the Chargers defense didn’t have a problem bottling up Alvin Kamara and the New Orleans offense. Spencer Rattler started the game for New Orleans and led the Saints to five points and five first downs.     

This was a rebound game for the Chargers. After losing on the road to the Arizona Cardinals during a Monday Night Football game, needed a win just to continue to stay within striking distance of the AFC West Division Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers are three games back of the Chiefs, who remain unbeaten. 

For the Chargers to continue to win, they’ll have to do it with substance and not style.Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is not about style points. He wants to win football games. To that, especially now in his first season as the lead man for the Chargers, winning pretty won’t be this team’s signature. 

Victories will have to accumulate with hard work in the trenches. They will win by having a stout defense. The Chargers will win games by running the football and playing opportunistic offense with big-play capabilities. Winning football games for Harbaugh requires getting physical and having a dash of rough rider mentality. 

“Toughness is a talent and there’s no coach that can take any credit for that particular player’s talent of being tough,” Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference. “I can’t take credit for the talent that Justin has for throwing the ball or that Khalil Mack has for rushing the passer. They’re great.” 

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert looks downfield to find a receiver against the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Oct. 27, 2024. The Chargers defeated the Saints, 26-8. Photo credit: Mark Hammond/News4usonline

It’s still relatively early in the season, but the blueprint to Harbaugh’s way of winning has already taken shape on the team. Let’s start with quarterback Justin Herbert. During his first four years in the NFL, it seemed like Herbert was breaking one passing record after another as he was allowed to let it fly with his weekly aerial show.  

This season has been different. Herbert has had only one game of 300 yards or more passing.In three of the seven games he’s played in, including the Chargers win against the Saints, has Herbert thrown for 200 yards or more. 

As in the New Orleans game where he completed 20 of 32 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns, Herbert and the Chargers offense are playing more methodically. This new approach for the Chargers is building a grittier and more physical identity for the offensive unit. 

And so, even without Herbert slinging the ball all over the field, the Chargers offense still managed to earn 378 yards in total offense and averaged 5.9 yards per play against the Saints. Herbert had an additional 49 yards rushing, including a 38-yard scramble. 

“One play like that can always change the direction of the game,” Herbert said. “We didn’t do much before that, but I thought the guys did a great job of sticking with it, staying patient, waiting for their opportunities, and went and made something happen.”

Los Angeles Chargers tight end Will Dissly (81) bowls over a New Orleans Saints defensive back in the team’s 26-8 win at SoFI Stadium in Inglewood, California on Oct. 27, 2024. Photo credit: Mark Hammond/News4usonline

Having a big-play day from his offense had Harbaugh fired up.   

“I thought it was very explosive by the offense. Big plays,” Harbaugh remarked. “Started out with some shorter stuff, some screens and they were all over those. Then we started putting it downfield and [were] really good at it.  [QB] Justin [Herbert], of course, it’s like being around greatness every day. That’s all I can say. Just every day I get to watch him. Loved the run. I thought that really got us going and really sparked us. I think he showed what he can do. He can run. He can run fast.” 

Just as Herbert and the Chargers offense has adopted the Harbaugh philosophy, so has the team’s defense. Coming into the New Orleans game, the Chargers defense was only giving up 13.8 points per game. The New Orleans offense couldn’t even meet that threshold. 

The Chargers held the Saints to two field goals for the entire game. One statistic stands out more than others in the Chargers-Saints matchup: making good on third-down conversions. The Chargers defense made it miserable for the New Orleans offense, only allowing the Saints to convert 2 of 16 attempts. 

That’s practically where the game was won.  


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