Studs and duds from Chargers’ loss to the Ravens

The Chargers came up short against the Ravens on Sunday Night Football. The 20-10 loss extended their losing streak to three games. That mark is actually the longest of the Brandon Staley tenure.

LA will look to reverse course against New England next week. Before the weekly pivot to the next game, let’s get into the standouts against Baltimore.

Stud: EDGE Khalil Mack

Khalil Mack’s historic pace continues. In his age 33 season, the Chargers’ pass rusher has managed to turn the clock back to 2018. Mack is now second in the NFL in sacks behind T.J. Watt with 13. He has 54 pressures on the year.

For the most part, he’s been consistently dominant as well. Seven of Mack’s 11 starts this season have resulted in 5+ pressures. Against a pretty good Baltimore offensive line, Mack had seven pressures and two sacks on the night.

The second efforts and relentless pass rush motor displayed throughout the night were really impressive. The Chargers needed every last ounce of what he was willing to give with Joey Bosa on IR.

Dud: RB Austin Ekeler

The last two weeks have not been pretty for Austin Ekeler to say the least. The Chargers’ running back has a fumble in each of his last two games. On the ground in this one, Ekeler had just ten carries for 32 yards. Kellen Moore seemed to practically abandon the run game down the stretch.

Ekeler is averaging 3.2 yards per attempt since he returned in Week 6 against Dallas. By any analytical measure, he’s hit career low paces in his last six games production-wise.

Is the solution to give more of the handoffs to Joshua Kelley? Is it fixing the run blocking of the offensive? In the interim, I’m not sure. But right now, Ekeler’s definitely slowed down athletically and is unable to shoulder his load from past seasons.

Stud: WR Keenan Allen 

The fumble was unfortunate, but Keenan Allen still showed why his connection with Justin Herbert is so electric. Allen was targeted 16 times for 14 catches and 106 yards. He also did make a heads up lateral toss that sprung Ekeler out for a first down.

On the season now, Allen is up to 1117 yards receiving. He needs just 277 yards in his last six games to surpass his single season record.

Dud: WR Quentin Johnston

Quentin Johnston as WR2 had just one catch for seven yards. He dropped a fairly catchable pass over the middle of the field and then grabbed at his ribs. Following this point, Johnston never returned to the game.

The advanced metrics of how often he’s creating separation do not lean in Johnston’s favor. His yards per route run against Baltimore was 0.35. That would be his second lowest mark of the season.

The drops of recent weeks plus the general lack of development we’ve seen from him in the offensive scheme are enough to raise red flags.

Possibly being benched on a night where the Chargers were rolling out a skeleton squad of receivers is just disastrous.

Stud: TE Gerald Everett

In what’s been a relatively down year for Gerald Everett, Sunday was a high point for him. The Chargers’ tight end has dealt with a back injury throughout the season and returned after missing the Packers game.  He had four catches for a season-high 48 yards and a touchdown that got LA back into the game at 13-10.

The lack of Everett usage in this offense when he has been healthy has been confusing to me. This is a player who’s seen his yardage and usage go up every single season when he’s been asked to do more. Hopefully during this stretch run for the team, we get to see Kellen Moore showcase his athleticism in the offense considering the WR injuries.

Dud: Pass pro woes again

Justin Herbert was pressured 21 times against Baltimore via PFF. That’s tied for his second highest total of the season. Rashawn Slater and Trey Pipkins combined to give up eight pressures on the ends of the offensive line. Meanwhile, both Will Clapp and Jamaree Salyer wound up in the teams’ bottom five PFF offensive scorers.

To be fair, Mike Macdonald’s Ravens’ defense presents a lot of the same issues that the Jets did. The stunts and simulated pressures that Baltimore uses have given teams problems all year. Simply put though, the Chargers’ offense is just going to be ugly in all of these games if Herbert is allowed to be pressured 15+ times weekly.

We’ve been waiting for the offensive line to stabilize and find a groove without Corey Linsley. Some kind of flow and chemistry has to be established. But over two months into the experiment with a banged up Slater and Clapp as the lead signaler on the line, the truth is that this is the new normal. Herbert is playing hero ball from here on out with constant pressure in his face in 2023. And don’t even ask about run blocking.