Jump to content

Week 8 GDT: Chargers @ Broncos


Broncofan

Recommended Posts

 

 

                      s-l300.jpg                                                                                    9626275fda1504620367cb30a23335e0--footba

 

LAC (2-4) @ DEN

Where:   Empower Field, DEN

When:    Sunday, November 1st @ 205PM  MT

Broadcast:   CBS (Greg Gumbel PBP & Rich Gannon Color)

 

DVOA:   

LAC 19th overall -  13th offense, 12th defense, 32nd ST  

DEN 27th overall  - 31st offense, 7th defense, 27th ST  

 

Injury concerns:

Tim Patrick's still not practicing fully, and Lindsay's not started full practice work.  If Lindsay can't go today, unlikely he gets cleared.  We know Risner's tough as nails, but he's likely playing hurt given he's played and is practicing with a harness.

On the Chargers front, Melvin Ingram is in LP (limited practices), so he's about to return - question is now or next week.   The Covid-19 test in theory puts several starters for the OL in jeopardy as close contacts, but the timing means they'll be cleared to play Sunday so long as they test negative (but haven't been practicing).    I'd guess that they all play.

 

Pretty obvious keys on O:

 

1.   Lock's bounceback vs. regression - not much more need be said.   His first stretch of real adversity, how does he handle it?     He's always had footwork issues with pressure, and deep ball accuracy has been a problem even in his hot 5-game stretch to end 2019.   But now he's got happy feet, and he's eyes down with pressure.    Could it be the shoulder's not OK?  Or that his confidence is shaken with such a big injury?  The worse alternative - teams have the book on him, and are taking away where he wants to go (deep/intermediate), and are dialing up more inside pressure given our OL weakest areas - and Lock's not able to adapt.     This is a big test, given the other key area on O....

2.  LAC's pass rush vs. our pass protection - sounds like Melvin Ingram's back - if so, that's a real problem, given they can move Bosa/Ingram around to exploit our biggest weak areas.    Linval Joseph and Jerry Tillery have helped solidify their interior DL push (and run D, along with Kenneth Murray joining Denzel Perriman to give them improved LB play).   The 3rd guy to watch for -  Nwosu, he's benefitted from a lot of the attention Bosa & Ingram get.  If Ingram's out, helps a lot.

3.  Getting Jeudy/Fant involved - Jeudy's getting open, and Fant's the safety valve, Lock's been focused on the deep shots.    Get some easier wins, get some rhythm.

4.  Run success vs. LAC - the best way to neutralize their pass rush - lean on the run game.    The issue is that you have to get ahead and keep up with LAC's O to make that work - and too many times, our O has fallen in such a hole they can't stick with a run game plan.   No Lindsay means it's MG3 & Freeman - gotta say I'm not that optimistic.   Hated the MG3 signing from Day 1, nothing against MG3 himself - just a bad allocation of resources on an incomplete team.  Well, this is a chance to justify the deal with Lindsay out.   I doubt it goes well, but the shot is there.

On DST:

1.  Our pass rush vs. their OL & Herbert - Malik Reed is quickly becoming the next UDFA gem.   He may in fact be the alpha we need to help Chubb succeed as well in pass rush.    The Chargers OL is awful - but Herbert's surprising feel for pressure and ability to get the ball out before pressure gets home (or move around the pocket to buy time to get rid of the ball), that's been a huge neutralizer that has masked LAC's OL weakness.     For our D to have a chance, the pass rush has to get there and make life miserable.

2.  Containing Keenan Allen & Hunter Henry - with Ekeler gone, those are the big chain movers (Mike Williams the big play guy).   Drives getting sustained go through Allen (huge target share) and increasingly through Henry.    

3.  Winning ST's - the Chargers ST is brutal - they gave up blocked punts to JAX to get them back in the game, and their coverage is highly suspect.  Their K game is well-documented.  

Overall, with HFA no longer a thing, LAC is -3, and deservedly so.   I'd suspect a 27-20 L, unless we win the TO game by 2 or more.    Either way, a big game in the development of our O.    My feelings on our season's chances are no secret - as is my main goal that our young core develop and stay healthy for 2021+.   In that respect, this isn't quite a make-or-break game for Lock yet, he's going to be given all season to work it out - but it's certainly his biggest test yet, with way more on the line (easy when it's all going well - how you respond to team adversity speaks more to long-term growth than during team success).


 

Edited by Broncofan
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

Glasgow is the OL who has COVID. Big loss, especially with Risner playing hurt.

Hopefully DEN following protocols will prevent more spread, because it's Schlottman and Dotson who are the ones under the microscope.  If they test negative through Sat night, they'll get cleared to play.   If they don't, ugh.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

 

"When we play a defense like the Chiefs -- they played big zones against us and forced me to check it down," Lock said. "... They were forcing me to check it down and I wasn't doing it. I was running around and, in return, forcing balls down field a little bit. It ended up hurting our offense and it took us off the field. I can be a lot better than that, and that's a big goal of mine this week.

"I missed a couple of baby throws, those that I made in Pop Warner, and that's unacceptable by me. ... I'm working on that not happening again."

 

Well at least Lock knows what he did wrong...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...