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Week 6 Game Recap: New England Patriots 10, San Diego Chargers 30
What you need to know
| New England Patriots |
New England looked to be in disarray, the most glaring example of which was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel apparently having some strong words for coach Bill Belichick as both men walked off the field near the end of the first half. A series of plays on the first drive of the second half sums up their offensive game pretty well. The Patriots had first and goal at the Chargers' one yard line, but failed to score on four straight plays. It was the first time since 2003 that the Patriots failed to score a touchdown when they had first and goal at the one yard line. Of note: Randy Moss was not on the field for any of the four plays.
The Patriots had poor production from the passing game. Matt Cassel simply isn't getting it done. He made poor decisions, didn't show great accuracy, and gave up on plays far too quickly just to avoid a sack. WR Randy Moss regressed back to being a bystander for much of the game. As if it wasn't evident in the statistics, Moss didn't do much and didn't seem terribly interested in doing much either.
With RBs Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan both inactive, the majority of the rushing duties fell to Sammy Morris. But despite getting the touchdown, Kevin Faulk was the more effective of the two runners despite only coming in for third downs and obvious passing situations.
| San Diego Chargers |
WR Vincent Jackson exploded in this game, with 134 yards and a touchdown on just five receptions. He was able to really stretch the field against overmatched defensive backs and helped put the game away early.
QB Philip Rivers bounced back after a very sub-par outing a week ago to post terrific numbers. He topped 300 yards and threw for three touchdowns, and could have had a fourth if not for an Antonio Gates drop.
RB LaDainian Tomlinson once again had a very uneven performance. While the final numbers look solid, he still looked sluggish for most of the game. On a late reception, however, he gave a glimmer of hope for the weeks to come by showing some very nice moves in the open field to pick up some extra yardage.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 22 - 38 - 203 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 7 - 29 - 0 |
Cassel played very poorly for the Patriots. It took him nearly forty passes just to top 200 yards (5.3 YPA) and he failed to get the team into the end zone until the game was already well out of reach. On the team's final two possessions (trailing 30-10), he went 7-10 for 74 yards. Up until that point, he was 15-28 for 129 yards (4.6 YPA) with no touchdowns and an interception. He was also sacked four times, including once at the goal line even though tight end Ben Watson was wide open five yards to his left. Cassel was only intercepted once, but that was only because every time a San Diego defender got near him to apply pressure, he threw the ball into the ground. He very nearly tossed a second interception, but it was ruled that CB Quentin Jammer hadn't maintained possession all the way to the ground. Cassel also nearly lost a fumble, but it was recovered by New England just before S Eric Weddle could pounce on it. Cassel did make two decent throws to Randy Moss downfield, but both were knocked away on nice defensive plays by the aforementioned Jammer. On the one instance that Cassel had Moss wide open in the end zone, his pass was nowhere near the intended target and it fell incomplete. Against one of the worst statistical defenses in all of football to this point, Cassel led the Patriots on exactly two scoring drives - one of which came with a short field after a turnover and with San Diego in prevent defense mode.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 10 - 26 - 1, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (5 targets) |
With both Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan inactive, it was up to Morris and Kevin Faulk to pick up the slack. Morris saw the heavier workload, both in terms of carries and receptions though it's tough to say who the more effective player was. It doesn't matter much, because unless one player really outperformed the other, this is going to be a RBBC between whoever the healthy backs are. Morris was somewhat surprisingly active in the passing game. He took a 28 yard screen pass right to the doorstep of the end zone on New England's opening drive of the second half, but was taken down at the one yard line. He was given a run that went for no gain, and then was thrown to in the end zone on third down, but that fell incomplete. The Patriots were eventually stuffed on fourth down, coming away with nothing. But Morris punched in a garbage time rushing touchdown late in the game as San Diego's defense really softened up.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 8 - 48 - 0, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (3 targets) |
Faulk looked quicker and more fluid running the ball than Sammy Morris did, but at this stage of his career it's pretty obvious that Faulk is never going to be more than a change of pace, third down option for this New England team. That's not a bad thing, as he excels in the role. But no matter how good he looks running the ball, he's not likely to see a 20 carry game in the near future.
| RB LaMont Jordan |
Jordan was inactive for the game.
| RB Laurence Maroney |
Maroney was inactive for the game.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 9 - 73 - 0 (11 targets) |
With the Chargers effectively removing Randy Moss from the gameplan, New England had no choice but to attack with mostly short routes underneath the defense. That is where Welker is most effective, and nothing changed on that front in this game. He caught a game high nine passes but for just 73 yards, as San Diego wrapped up very quickly each time he caught a pass. He had an uncharacteristic drop late in the fourth quarter that would've likely gone for 10+ yards had he held on. He never came close to scoring, as New England was very rarely near the end zone.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (9 targets) |
It's difficult to say who the bigger culprit in the game was. Was Matt Cassel to blame for not getting the ball to Randy Moss? Or was Moss to blame for failing to give maximum effort at times? Whatever the case, it's obvious that Moss was unable to take advantage of a pass defense that has been absolutely shredded by previous visitors. Moss almost caught two long passes from Cassel, but CB Quentin Jammer made fine defensive plays on both to knock the ball away. Later, Moss got open against CB Antonio Cromartie in the end zone, but the pass was well off the mark and fell incomplete. Moss didn't seem particularly upset by the loss, as he was seen laughing on the sidelines late in the game. That isn't typically something to read into with most players, but because of recent news about Moss' lack of motivation it's certainly something to keep an eye on. Moss owners have to be concerned by the team's complete lack of cohesion on the offensive side of the ball, and no player is suffering from it more than Moss.
| TE Ben Watson (3 targets) |
Watson had a 21 yard reception negated by an offensive holding penalty. But that wasn't even the most crucial near-connection of the game for Watson. From the San Diego goal line, Watson broke free into the left side of the end zone and was wide open on a play action fake. Matt Cassel failed to see him, instead looking to his right the entire time. Had he found him, and Watson held on, it would've been an almost uncontested score.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Gostkowski badly hooked a 48 yard attempt wide to the left on his first field goal try, but later connected easily from 47 yards out.
| NE Rush Defense |
For most of the game, they did a solid job of keeping RB LaDainian Tomlinson in check. That could be party due to the fact that they were ensuring Tomlinson wouldn't beat them and forcing Philip Rivers and the passing game to beat them. If that was indeed the game plan, it worked. Rivers certainly did beat them. They effectively removed Tomlinson from the equation, as he picked up just 74 yards on 20 carries (27 of which came on one late third quarter run when the game was just about out of reach anyway). DE Jarvis Green injured an ankle early in the first quarter and was immediately carted off to the locker room. No update was given immediately after the game.
| NE Pass Defense |
Even though the New England offense is much less effective with Matt Cassel running it than with Tom Brady, one would've expected that the vaunted New England defense would rise up to save the day. For this game at least, that was very far from the case. The first play of the game was a 48 yard pass to WR Vincent Jackson, and from there it just got worse and worse. The covering CB on the play, Deltha O'Neal, was also beaten on a long touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd. The Chargers threw the ball all over the field, and New England was powerless to stop it. They couldn't get any pressure on Rivers up front, and failed to sack him or even hurry him once. And the defensive backs were completely unable to hang with the San Diego wide receivers (and that was despite Chris Chambers missing the game with an injury).
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 18 - 27 - 306 - 3 TD / 0 INT |
Right from the outset, Rivers looked very calm and poised in directing the offense. Some of that may have had something to do with the fact that no New England defender got within five yards of him all night long. His very first pass of the game was a 48 yard bomb to Vincent Jackson, and that really seemed to suck the life out of the Patriots defense. They were very concerned with the deep ball, which freed up Rivers to remain in the pocket for as long as he needed. He put just about every pass right where it needed to be, and his accuracy on the deep passes was outstanding. He hit Malcolm Floyd for a long touchdown, hit Jackson for another bomb in the second half, and connected with Jackson and Antonio Gates on short scores. He nearly had an earlier score to Gates, but the tight end dropped what would've been an easy seven yard touchdown. Facing a defense as stout as New England's has been, one cannot ask Rivers to play any better than he did.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 20 - 74 - 0, Rec: 3 - 44 - 0 (3 targets) |
The final tally of 118 yards from scrimmage looks solid against a defense like New England, but it was how Tomlinson picked up the yardage that is still a bit disconcerting. He gained 55 of his total yardage output on two plays, meaning he had just 63 yards on his other 21 touches. Obviously you can't discount the big plays, but Tomlinson typically gets between four and five yards per touch even without the big plays. In this game, he averaged just three. And on his rushes alone, it was 2.5 without the long run. Granted, most good running backs will enhance their per carry average with one or two big gains. All this is meant to illustrate is that he's not typically moving the pile forward in normal Tomlinson fashion. Announcer John Madden commented repeatedly on Tomlinson's inability to push off on his right foot, which Tomlinson himself acknowledged to Madden before the game. He says the toe injury is getting better by the week but that it's still not all the way healed yet and it is still difficult to make cuts using his right foot to plant. His first big gain of the game came late in the third quarter when he broke loose for a 27 yard run. Later in the fourth quarter, he took a screen pass and turned upfield for 28 yards. On that play, he demonstrated two very nice moves to shake off defenders in the open field. Still, he failed to find the end zone despite seeing touches inside the ten yard line. While he's not all the way back to form, he is showing steady progression every week and could round into form after the Week 9 bye. In the game, Tomlinson went over 11,000 rushing yards for his career. He is the fourth-fastest to accomplish the feat (after Eric Dickerson, Jim Brown, and Barry Sanders).
| RB Darren Sproles, Rush: 2 - 9 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Sproles saw very little work as the team leaned heavily on LaDainian Tomlinson. Even with San Diego up 30-10, Sproles remained on the sideline as Tomlinson ran out the last few offensive plays for San Diego.
| RB Jacob Hester, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Hester fumbled away his second career carry as the Chargers were trying to run out the clock and protect their big lead. Immediately upon reaching the sidelines, Hester was met by LaDainian Tomlinson. It appeared Tomlinson was either offering words of encouragement or instruction. In any case, Hester didn't receive another touch in the game.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 5 - 134 - 1 (12 targets) |
Starting WR Chris Chambers missed this game with an ankle injury suffered last week. That elevated Jackson to top wide receiver status, and he lived up to it and then some. Without question, Jackson was the most dangerous player on the field for either team in this game. His evening started off with a bang, as he hauled in a 48 yard bomb almost with one hand on the very first play from scrimmage. He scored late in the first half from four yards out, evidence that the team was looking to him at all spots on the field -- both deep balls and in the red zone. Jackson seemed to be able to get open any time he wanted. On the Chargers' second offensive play of the third quarter, Jackson again hauled in another deep ball -- this time for 59 yards. Two plays later, he badly beat his defender and drew a 32 yard pass interference penalty in the end zone. That play helped set up an Antonio Gates score. Jackson filled in more than adequately for the injured Chambers, and perhaps even secured a more prominent role in the offense going forward.
| WR Malcom Floyd, Rec: 3 - 75 - 1 (4 targets) |
Floyd took a page out of the Chris Chambers school of efficiency and turned a relatively meager four targets into three receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. Floyd's first target of the game was also his first target of the season, a 49 yard touchdown right down the seam and in the end zone for the score. It appeared that the ball may have hit the ground just after the catch, but there was no challenge issued and it was barely mentioned by the announcers. Floyd was later targeted in the end zone on a fade pattern but the ball fell incomplete.
| WR Chris Chambers |
Chambers was inactive after injuring his ankle in last week's game.
| WR Craig Davis |
Davis was listed as the starter and was announced in pregame as the starter, but he didn't see any offensive snaps. Instead, it was backup Malcolm Floyd who saw the majority of the action as the number two wide receiver.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 4 - 35 - 1 (5 targets) |
Despite scoring a short touchdown, Gates' evening could've been a lot better. He dropped a sure seven yard touchdown in the flat on the one yard line during San Diego's opening possession. The defender wasn't close to him; it was simply a matter of turning towards the end zone too quickly. As mentioned, he did add a one yard score in the second half that helped put the game out of reach, but was largely quiet outside of that.
| PK Nate Kaeding 3 - 4 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Kaeding made three relatively easy field goals (25, 35, and 23) but missed his only kick of a significant distance, banging one off the left upright from 44 yards out.
| SD Rush Defense |
For seemingly the first time all season long, the Chargers hit like they meant it and tackled like they needed to. The big gain for New England went for just thirteen yards, and Charger defenders were quick to swarm to the ball at all times. They still allowed over four yards per rush, but much of that came late in the game when the outcome had already been decided and San Diego's defense was letting up a bit. They made a huge goal line stand early in the third quarter. With the Patriots at the goal line, the San Diego defense rose up and stopped them on four successive plays (two of them run plays) to really stem the tide and get all of the momentum.
| SD Pass Defense |
Defending the pass is made easier when the opponent's quarterback is repeatedly bad and the opponent's biggest playmaker isn't making any plays. CB Quentin Jammer did a phenomenal job in coverage on WR Randy Moss, most times locking up in one on one coverage with him. And more often than not, Jammer was able to make the play to knock the pass away. There were two occasions where Moss had seemingly beaten him, but Jammer made up for it. On one play, Moss tried to bait him by waiting until the last possible second to reach up for the ball, but Jammer wasn't fooled by it and knocked it away at the last moment. On another, Moss raised his hand up as he ran downfield and called for the ball. Matt Cassel delivered it where it needed to be, but Moss momentarily juggled it before Jammer swiped at it and knocked it out of bounds. In the second half, Moss beat CB Antonio Cromartie in the end zone on a deep ball but the pass was delivered woefully short of its intended target and fell incomplete.
Up front, the team finally got a good pass rush on an opponent. Cassel was sacked four times, and was pressured a lot more than that. He had to rush many throws, and wasn't able to look for much downfield aside from those three throws to Moss. Probably the biggest series of the game was a goal line stand made by San Diego early in the second half. New England had a first and goal at the Chargers 1 but four plays later, they came away with zero points (two of the plays were pass plays, and the last one resulted in a sack).
Jammer appeared to intercept a ball intended for Moss, but it was ruled that he didn't maintain possession all the way to the ground and the play was ruled an incomplete pass.