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The unbeaten Chargers won their first road game of the season Sunday,routing the Carolina Panthers 26-3.
What we learned from the team’s most lopsided victory since December of 2019:
The Chargers have a running game (seriously!)
Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins runs past the Panthers defense for a touchdown. (Rusty Jones / Associated Press)
The Chargers were 25th in the NFL in yards rushing last season, averaging less than 100 a game. And that was actually an improvement from 2022, when they were third from the bottom in the league.
Yet two Sundays into the new season, the Chargers’ J.K. Dobbins leads the league with 266 yards rushing — an average of 9.8 yards a carry — and the team’s ground game ranks second.
For that you can credit new offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who worked with Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers, then with Harbaugh’s brother, John, with the Baltimore Ravens, before joining the Chargers this season.
“Coach Roman’s trying to teach us is have a balance,” quarterback Justin Herbert said. “We’ve done a great job of running the first couple of games. Coach Roman, he’s done a great job getting us in a position to succeed.”
Read more: Jim Harbaugh’s long connection with quarterbacks a hit with Chargers’ Justin Herbert
And Herbert might prove to be one of the chief beneficiaries of the approach. In each of his first three seasons, Herbert ranked among the top four NFL quarterbacks in attempted passes. He was also sacked a combined 101 times in those three seasons.
Roman’s balanced approach will force defenses to respect the run, however, which figures to give Herbert more time when he does drop back.
“It’s a little different,” Herbert said. “It’s definitely super helpful going out there and knowing that you can hand the ball to J.K. and Gus [Edwards] and they’re going to fight for every yard. And so when we take our shots, take what the defense gives us, especially in the passing game, it’s only…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/chargers-panthers-takeaways-j-k-101533458.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-16 10:15:33
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