At least Chargers’ loss was special
The game film had been reviewed. The final results were in.
Chargers coach Mike McCoy opened a Monday afternoon press conference with some of his main takeaways from Sunday’s game. He highlighted one area in particular as a positive.
“That was the big bright spot of the game ... the kicking game” McCoy said. “The two kickers did an outstanding job. Very happy. We need to do that more often.”
McCoy is right.
Punter Mike Scifres easily had his best game of the season in a 33-3 loss to the Chiefs, and he needed to after the way he began the year. Scifres, 35, helped force four fair catches on six punts. He had three fair catches in his other nine games, including one in the first seven weeks.
Two of Scifres’ punts landed inside the 20. He had a 44.6 net average.
“Just kind of go out there and have fun with it, not overthink it,” said Scifres, the longest-tenured Charger in his 13th year. “Do what I’ve always done. I think I got caught up a little bit early on in the year, just trying to do too much.”
Kicker Josh Lambo converted a 52-yard field goal. Both of his kickoffs were touchbacks. McCoy also highlighted safety Darrell Stuckey as a coverage-game standout.
Special teams, though, is still far from perfect.
Wide receiver Javontee Herndon muffed a fourth-quarter punt that Kansas City recovered. It was the team’s second muff of the season; wide receiver Keenan Allen had the first against the Bengals in Week 2.
The Chargers still have 1 punt return yard after 10 games.
That is the fewest in NFL history.
“That punt that I muffed, I definitely had a chance to return that one,” Herndon said. “I’ve just got to catch that ball and try to make something out of it. It was definitely technique. I kind of thought he was going to kick it farther than he did. I was a little lackadaisical getting to the ball. It dropped real fast.”
Gates gimpy
For weeks, Antonio Gates has played through a knee and hip injury.
It may be time to rethink that strategy.
The Chargers tight end views playing injured as a matter of helping and hurting. That is, by being on the field, is he helping his team, or is he hurting it because of limited effectiveness?
He plans to decide this week for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars.
“That’s where I’m at right now,” said Gates, who caught one pass on three targets for 6 yards.
Strutting to struggling
How shocking Melvin Gordon’s rookie season has been can’t be measured. But there are some numbers to illustrate how different 2015 has been for the first-round pick than anything he was used to.
“The worst game I ever had in college was, I think, 30 yards and I was depressed for about two weeks,” he said. “Now that’s – it’s sad to say – it’s almost regular for me now trying to get over the 30 mark, the 50 mark.”
Gordon’s low rushing output in his two years as the Badgers’ featured back was 38 yards on (17 attempts) against Western Illinois. He never had less than 62, otherwise, and only five other times did he gain fewer than 80 yards in a game. In 27 games over those two seasons, he had 20 100-yard games, averaged 7.6 yards a carry and scored 41 touchdowns.
He is looking for both his first NFL score and first 100-yard game and is averaging 3.5 yards a carry. He’s had five games of fewer than 40 yards and just once gained more than 54 (88 at Cincinnati). After averaging 20 carries a game at Wisconsin, Gordon has yet to carry that many times in a game in the NFL.
“It’s tough for me to be putting up those type of stats in college,” he said. “You get so used to that. Now you’re struggling, trying to get yards. It’s tough for me, but I know things are going to get better. You can only go up from here.”
Unusual low
Chargers running backs and tight ends combined for just 36 yards receiving on Sunday, fewest since they had 29 yards in a 51-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Dec. 16, 2007.
That game eight years ago was a rout in which LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles combined for 238 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries. Sunday was mainly a story of Gates and Ladarius Green being hobbled and the Chargers totaling just 201 total yards in a 33-3 loss.
Said McCoy: “The production on offense as a whole wasn’t there. It wasn’t just that.”
As if …
The next victory by the Denver Broncos (8-2) or next loss by the Chargers (2-8) eliminates the Chargers from the division title race. Now, though, with six games remaining, they are just three games out of the wild card race.
For what it’s worth, makenflplayoffs.com puts the Chargers’ chance at winning the division at .07 percent. (Yes, seven-hundredths of one percent.) They are six times as likely (.4 percent) to earn a wild card spot.
Nuts ‘n’ Bolts
▪McCoy said Sunday that he needed to evaluate the film to determine whether players quit. He did, and they didn’t, he said. The pursuit on a 52-yard Spencer Ware run, with defensive ends Corey Liuget and Kendall Reyes chasing from behind, was one example of continued player effort. “For the outside to think we’re quitting or not playing hard is ridiculous,” safety Eric Weddle said. “People who say that don’t really know what’s going on.”
▪Tight end Sean McGrath cleared waivers Monday and was re-signed to the Chargers’ practice squad.
