Some next day thoughts:
Defense
Interestingly, despite all the talk of the offensive line, it was really our great coverage that created the opportunities to heat up Herbert. We finally said hey we have 3 great corners and we matched up (even in zone) by down and distance which smothered the Chargers receivers and that allowed our coaches to dial up the pressure bigtime. Obviously late in the game once the game script ensured the Chargers would be passing our line was getting pressure even without blitzes but in quarters 1-3 (esp. Q3) it was really the blitz that created disruption.
Needless to say, really have to pray Gonzalez can clear concussion protocol for the next game as he was phenomenal in this game. Seems like the coaches have finally realized how to best utilize the strength of our defense which is our 3 top corners who match up pretty well with anyone we will see.
Thought the run defense was pretty stout for the most part. Chargers couldn't rely on gashing us and were forced into resorting to the pass often. We didn't completely stonewall them but multiple times on short yardage the defense plugged it up and got off the field or forced 4th down. Much much improved over recent weeks (guess Williams and Spillane really do make that much of a difference huh)
Offense
I was disappointed in the first half that we didn't stick with the run more. Stephenson in particular was very effective, as he was running through the first tackle pretty often and getting those 5-10+ yard runs consistently. His re-emergence in recent weeks continued in this game and I wish they leaned on it more in the first half.
Drake was definitely struggling to diagnose things in the first half and made a big adjustment in the second half, where I thought he played much better down-to-down. Not surprising given the Chargers are known for their disguised zone looks. The big thing he really needs to work on is when to just give up on a play - on all of his strip sacks he got contacted initially, fought it off, and still tried to get a pass off under duress and got stripped. That cost us 3 points and a chance to ice the game with 5 min left. Other than that, he missed the pass to Hooper for a TD which was unusual - perhaps the wind was a factor or maybe he just missed. Outside of those plays in the second half he was great.
The wide receivers didn't do a ton outside of Boutte with a couple of big plays but we know that they are a solid group that is more schemed open than physically dominating. Hunter Henry was the one who had the more favorable matchup and he generally delivered on that giving us most of our big plays through the air.
The offensive line was pretty bad frankly, esp. on the left side. I thought we played better with Ben Brown rather than Jared Wilson in and I honestly wish we stuck with that. We will need much better going forward. Wilson was getting both beat by his guy and having trouble picking up stunts from what I could see on the TV. Campbell had some issues too but mainly on getting bull rushed and at least he didn't let guys just bust through free unlike Wilson.
Overall the offense probably should have put up ~23 points (hit that pass to Hooper +4 pts, don't get strip sacked in FG range +3 pts) which is a respectable output against a very stout Chargers D.
Next week
Texans (who I assume we will be playing)
Our O vs. their D: they are less known for disguised coverage on the back end - they just physically whip you with their defense both in front 7 and in their coverage. We are going to have to be patient with the run game and try our best to get more linebackers on the field and throw at those linebackers. Our receivers will not be a big factor against those corners. We do NOT want to play a straight dropback game against that defense. Go jumbo, run at them, try to wear them down, and hit play action trying to get our TE matched up on their linebackers. Some trickeration may be in order (remember the Bills hook and ladder play to pick up 4th and 26?) as that defense plays super aggressive which can occasionally put them out of position - Josh better go to his bag a few times, we will likely need it. It will be a struggle to score 20 points.
Our D vs. their O: we really need Gonzalez back and frankly we can try to roll out the same type of gameplan vs. the Texans as we did for the Chargers. Texans have better receivers (Nico Collins is a stud, Kirk is a capable slot receiver, and they found a good rookie in Higgins) but similarly have an averagish rungame and the weakness is the offensive line. Their line is definitely better than the Chargers but both lines really struggle with blitz protections and stunts/pass rush games. We need to match up and lock their receivers and heat up the quarterback with a variety of blitzes and stunts to stretch the protection scheme. Stroud is a very similar player to Herbert in that he's got a strong and accurate arm, can be mobile, but has had to deal with relatively poor protection all year so he can get jittery if you start to heat him up (as he's kind of expecting it at this point so mentally will bail even when protection does hold up).
Texans are basically just a better version of the Chargers, on both sides of the ball. It will be a close one, and our offense will have to execute much better than this week. First team to 20 wins that game - I like our chances better than theirs but it's like 55/45.
