Chargers at Cardinals MNF gameday thread 10-21-24

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Biggest drive of the game - first play and Kyler threw a dime to MHJ who flat out dropped it. We fortunately were bailed out by an iffy penalty.

Can’t have drops there and then also suggest that the QB needs to “engage” you better. Not how this works.

They do, you're right, but the reason I'm going to give Kyler more criticism is that MHJ is a rookie, Petzing is in year 2 in his first coordinator role and Kyler is in year 6 and should be past this by now.

 

[BritCard]

I think people are overlooking how good the Chargers are on defense. Their defense is top 7 in yards and #1 in scoring. This was always going to be a game that needed the defense to step up to win.

Chargers played some of the worst offenses in the league before last night. Raiders, Panthers, Broncos and Steelers.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Kyler was not accurate down the field in this game. Thankfully he made the short throws he needed, and used his legs to generate a critical scoring play. We would all like to see better but it was good enough for that game.

Kyler hasn’t been accurate down the field since the GB game in ‘21. It’s the strangest thing I’ve seen as that was his biggest strength outside of his wheels first 3 years.

 

[PDXChris]

After last nignts games, here are the predicted final records.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[BritCard]

Biggest drive of the game - first play and Kyler threw a dime to MHJ who flat out dropped it. We fortunately were bailed out by an iffy penalty.

Can’t have drops there and then also suggest that the QB needs to “engage” you better. Not how this works.

Nobody is saying MHJ hasn't had his own issues, but he's still a rookie and still learning. If he was dropping balls like that in year 6 you'd rightly be saying he was mediocre.

 

[BritCard]

Kyler hasn’t been accurate down the field since the GB game in ‘21. It’s the strangest thing I’ve seen as that was his biggest strength outside of his wheels first 3 years.

Yeah I just don't get it. The one area he was money when passing was downfield, that threat plus his legs made up for other areas that were lacking. Weirdest thing how poor it's become.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

They do, you're right, but the reason I'm going to give Kyler more criticism is that MHJ is a rookie, Petzing is in year 2 in his first coordinator role and Kyler is in year 6 and should be past this by now.

Very flawed logic here. If anything I would give Kyler the benefit of the doubt since he is the more experienced player that is less likely to be making minor (rookie) mistakes. Once MHJ starts making fewer mistakes they will probably develop a better connection, as seen by the immediate connection he had with a veteran receiver like DHop.

 

[BritCard]

Very flawed logic here. If anything I would give Kyler the benefit of the doubt since he is the more experienced player that is less likely to be making minor (rookie) mistakes. Once MHJ starts making fewer mistakes they will probably develop a better connection, as seen by the immediate connection he had with a veteran receiver like DHop.

Well yeah, you could give Kyler the benefit of the doubt, if he was hitting other wide receivers and putting up 250 yards passing and it was just MHJ that was the problem.

But he's not, so you can't. The whole passing offense sucks and he's frequently making bad reads and missing guys.

Also Kyler spent much of the off season talking about how MHJ was "like a veteran".

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Chargers played some of the worst offenses in the league before last night. Raiders, Panthers, Broncos and Steelers.

And? They have only played one team that scored more than we did against them. Pitt and KC are both in the top half of the league in scoring and got 20 and 17 respectively.

 

[CardNots]

Nobody is saying MHJ hasn't had his own issues, but he's still a rookie and still learning. If he was dropping balls like that in year 6 you'd rightly be saying he was mediocre.

I don’t have six years to wait…

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Well yeah, you could give Kyler the benefit of the doubt, if he was hitting other wide receivers and putting up 250 yards passing and it was just MHJ that was the problem.

But he's not, so you can't. The whole passing offense sucks and he's frequently making bad reads and missing guys.

Also Kyler spent much of the off season talking about how MHJ was "like a veteran".

And this would make sense if the guy who is the #1 target wasn't a rookie that is clearly making a lot of rookie mistakes. It's not exactly like he is surrounded by great receiving talent at the moment.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Well yeah, you could give Kyler the benefit of the doubt, if he was hitting other wide receivers and putting up 250 yards passing and it was just MHJ that was the problem.

But he's not, so you can't. The whole passing offense sucks and he's frequently making bad reads and missing guys.

Also Kyler spent much of the off season talking about how MHJ was "like a veteran".

THIS

A bad chemistry with MHJ would be one thing, but regularly throwing poor passes or passes behind receivers or not seeing wide open receivers on many plays is a sign of a bigger issue, IMHO.

 

[MadCardDisease]

A lot of people are calling this an Ugly win.

Well that is what you get when two teams that are built around physical play line up across from each other. The encouraging thing is that the Cardinals out physicaled the Chargers.

Here is what Harbaugh has said about the style of team that he wants:

We want to out-physical teams. We want teams to fear us... We want teams to end up giving up in the fourth quarter, where we're just hitting our stride. I think that's where you get the most productive football, when you're just out-physicaling people.

Well it was James Conner and the Cardinals makeshift DL that out physicaled the Chargers. It was the Chargers who had nightmares of Conner after they fell asleep last night.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Probably as a FA. Just The Tip has arguably been the best draft pick, so far.

Did you see the block on Connor’s game winning first down run? I asked who was that? Wow just wow

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

THIS

A bad chemistry with MHJ would be one thing, but regularly throwing poor passes or passes behind receivers or not seeing wide open receivers on many plays is a sign of a bigger issue, IMHO.

The issue is that his flaws only look even worse because of how perfect the throws often have to be. For instance, on the play where the Charges fumbled at the goal line the receiver was so open that Herbert could underthrow the pass by quite a bit and still get the completion. He makes that same throw on a less open receiver and it's probably a pick and looks like a horrible throw.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

A lot of people are calling this an Ugly win.

Well that is what you get when two teams that are built around physical play line up across from each other. The encouraging thing is that the Cardinals out physicaled the Chargers.

Here is what Harbaugh has said about the style of team that he wants:



Well it was James Conner and the Cardinals makeshift DL that out physicaled the Chargers. It was the Chargers who had nightmares of Conner after they fell asleep last night.

If you hadn't said who said that I bet many on here would have guessed that to be a JG quote. He is always talking about physicality and violence.

 

[Ronin]

Defense Answers The Call After Hearing The Noise

 

[Ronin]

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[slanidrac16]

Cardinals have had the 2nd toughest schedule to date

Well , losing to “ those teams” gives them a better record.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Well , losing to “ those teams” gives them a better record.

Okay and the 3 wins that we have gave those teams a worse record. It's not like we are 0-7 right now.

 

[Russ Smith]

Herbert didn’t get his team in the EZ because Jalen Reagor is Jalen Reagor. It’s pretty impressive the numbers Herbert had throwing to nobody’s with the exception of the McHonkey rookie.

Hey the guy is averaging 42 yards per reception this year. Have some respect for the man!

 

[Russ Smith]

QB's and WR's are a symbiotic relationship. While MHJ hasn't lit the world on fire it's clear that Kyler and this offence is holding him back.

This is evidenced in the one game where Kyler played well as a passer and the offense was on fire, and he had 2 TD's and 100+ yards. It's not MHJ limiting Kyler, it's Kyler limiting MHJ. Limiting the whole passing offense TBH.

Huh? He had one great game against the rams whose secondary was decimated, and even in that game he dropped a TD pass right in his hands in the endzone.

There's been 2 busted plays where he was open for a TD and didn't get it, the Buffalo one dissected to death, and the one last night where by the time he broke open, Kyler was dodging 3 guys and ran left and just got the pass off complete to Tre. So yeah he did beat the rookie CB like a drum for a TD there, but the protection didn't allow for it.

Other than that it's not like he's wide open. I know ESPN was pushing the feed Marv mantra last night but if I'm Kyler and I have a choice between a contested Conner and a contested Marv right now, why wouldn't I throw the easier ball to Conner? He dropped that one but he's been the best player on our offense and way more reliable than Marv.

This is not the best fit offense for Marv obviously but it should be concerning that his most impactful plays from last night, even the open deep pass we didn't have time on, all came from the slot. He wasn't drafted to be a slot WR.

 

[Russ Smith]

The other alarming thing last night was Max Melton, who had a great play earlier and then got positively curb stomped for the rest of the game. I lost track at 5 or 6 completions against him. ANd he was getting turned around by a rookie, McConkey. I wanted him to play more and still do but last night was a bit disconcerting, he couldn't cover anybody

 

[RON_IN_OC]

The other alarming thing last night was Max Melton, who had a great play earlier and then got positively curb stomped for the rest of the game. I lost track at 5 or 6 completions against him. ANd he was getting turned around by a rookie, McConkey. I wanted him to play more and still do but last night was a bit disconcerting, he couldn't cover anybody

I think Melton got wore down by trying to cover the big body of Dissly. That was a complete mismatch that the Chargers exploited well, several times. Looked like probably a 100 lb size difference.

 

[JosiahLee]

The whole idea is to find a way to win

This is what good teams do

This team usually finds new ways to lose

Last night we found a way to win when the Chargers gave the opportunity

Exactly. Chiefs win ugly a lot. For me, it’s about staying within reach of the playoffs and continuing to get better as the season goes on. We all know we used to start hot and then fade under Kliff so if we can actually do the opposite of the past regime that would be amazing. We certainly finished strong last year. Hopefully it will start clicking more offensively.