The Chargers defeated the Texans on Sunday, improving to 2-2 and snapping their two-game losing streak.
Before shifting gears to Week 5, here are my final takeaways from Los Angeles’ Week 4 victory.
Turning point
After scoring 20 touchdowns a season ago, Ekeler was a hot commodity in fantasy football drafts – being picked within the first five selections. However, he had his owners frustrated early on as Ekeler entered Week 4 with only 80 rushing yards on 32 carries and zero touchdowns.
However, their tone changed when Ekeler delivered a monstrous performance on Sunday. Facing Houston’s defense, which was last against the run, Ekeler took advantage by exploding for three touchdowns.
Ekeler finished with 60 yards rushing on 13 attempts in addition to 49 yards receiving on seven targets.
While Ekeler was efficient on the ground, his fellow teammates in the backfield combined for 86 yards on 23 carries. Joshua Kelley, who raised eyebrows, had four rushes for 15 yards, which came in the first half.
Instead of riding the hot hand, Sony Michel got the bulk of the carries in the second half, but he only had 11 yards on six carries.
Jamaree Salyer sparks in debut
After it was announced that Rashawn Slater was out for the rest of the season with a torn biceps, the thought was that the Chargers were going to keep Storm Norton as the starting left tackle or have Trey Pipkins move to the left side and have Norton play right tackle.
Instead, somewhat shockingly, they turned to Salyer to fill Slater’s shoes. It was shocking because it appeared Salyer was making a full-time transition to guard after playing mostly left tackle in his final two seasons at Georgia.
Nevertheless, Salyer looked at home in his regular-season debut. While they did scheme to help him – chips from running backs and tight ends, moving pockets, and quick throws, Salyer held rushers at bay in pass protection, displaying great body control, balance, and strength.
“He’s a stud,” Staley said on Salyer. “Calm, poised, strong and his teammates did a great job for him too. But I’m really proud of him, and he can build off it, because he’s really hard on himself. He’s going to look at the tape and realize he can play better.”
Getting the job done without Joey
I was really curious how the pass rush would look without Joey Bosa, given the fact that the Chargers generated just ten pressures after he left last weekend’s game against the Jaguars with a groin injury.
Against a solid Texans offensive line, Los Angeles got the job without him. Davis Mills was pressured a whopping 23 times and sacked four times. Brandon Staley utilized twists/stunts to get interior pressure and 1-on-1s.
Morgan Fox and Sebastian Joseph-Day each had five pressures. Jerry Tillery had a sack on an impressive rep where he threw a club-rip move. After his lone sack, Khalil Mack has five on the season, the second-most in the NFL.
Money Mike
After a quiet performance last weekend, Mike Williams had a bounce-back game. Williams ran more shallow crosser routes and Herbert took advantage of that. On 11 targets, Williams had seven catches for 11 yards.
However, that wasn’t the only “Mike” who had an eye-popping performance.
Michael Bandy was promoted to the active roster while Keenan Allen remained out for the third-straight game. When Joshua Palmer went out for a bit, Bandy came in and took advantage of his limited opportunities. The summer standout turned his two targets into catches for 49 yards.
Wassup with Nas?
I thought Nasir Adderley would take a step forward this season, as he flashed last season and raised eyebrows during training camp in the passing and run game, and he just looked a lot more comfortable in Brandon Staley’s defensive scheme.
However, that has not come to fruition.
Nasir Adderley had his first interception since 2020 on the Texans’ opening possession. But a couple of drives later, on Dameon Pierce’s 75-yard touchdown run, Adderley took a bad angle on the play. That wouldn’t be his only bad angle in open space.
Later, in the fourth quarter, Davis Mills found Nico Collins over the top for a 58-yard completion. It seemed like it was J.C. Jackson’s fault for allowing the big play, but Adderley should have been playing deeper on the Collins completion, according to Staley.
That same instance happened in Week 2 against the Chiefs when Justin Watson had a 41-yard catch from Patrick Mahomes. It seemed like it was all on Jackson, but there should’ve been help from Adderley in the deep part of the field.
The product on the field hasn’t been inspiring, and outside of Derwin James, there hasn’t been anything positive from the safety position, as third-round pick JT Woods has been a healthy scratch and Alohi Gilman isn’t anywhere near the athlete they are.
