Jamie

Here is a log of all 61 offensive snaps. Before the play-by-play analysis, here are more reasons that the offense is so bad. 1. Herbert football IQ is not of a game manager like Rivers. He will not adjust protections like Manning or Brady, and he will not have answers to the Blitz unless he has a savvy player like KA to help him. The next OC, who should be his last, must understand the clear limitations of what Herbert can do. Herbert is at his best when he sees what the defense gives him after the snap in passing downs, and he reacts by passing to players with whom he has chemistry. Passing to players he met after coming back from Paris lead to interceptions (5 interceptions to MVS, Kolar, and Njoku, in addition to 2 more interceptions to DD who MM considered a weapon). Herbert’s traits (arm and accuracy) as well as his toughness shine when he reacts to the defense instead of anticipates for where a WR should be. Herbert was best under Lombardi because Lombardi had a simple offense: a checkdown option in Ekeler, 24/7 open KA, good TE options in Jared Cook (2021) or Everrett (2022), and contested catch WR machine in MW. This season is an important lesson: Herbert neither needed nor deserved a better OC than Lombardi or Roman. What he needs are better WRs and guards. In this game, only one anticipatory pass worked (see play 26 below). This throw worked because there was good protection and enough space inside the triangle of three defenders into which QJ entered. None of these three defenders were hidden behind players (i.e., Herbert had a good vision to these players). The other passes that worked were simple, using the fact that Herbert has a strong arm and that he can extend drives with his toughness. These plays included a 20-yard pass after a flea flicker that left Kolar unguarded (play 22 below), four broken plays in which Herbert extends the play by avoiding pressure or shaking up rushers (see plays 13, 15, 32, and 38 below). The other plays are simple clear-out concepts on two passes to Harris that started from a bunch formation (see plays 21 and 29 below), a quick slant to Harris (see play 41 below), or quick passes to Gadsden with Harris or Ladd clearing out the way (see plays 44, 54 and 60 below). Herbert lost the team this game with two interceptions intended to Kolar. The result so far of Herbert not having the timing right with DD, MVS, and Kolar is six interceptions (two per player). 2. The offense tried deep passes on 3rd & short in previous weeks without success. They try runs on 3rd & short in three drives in the first half of this game and they did not work because Slaughter is not strong enough. There is no way to hide the fact that our IOL is a problem and that we do not have a WR that can win in one-on-one contested catch situations. Herbert is not good this year, but he could’ve been better with better IOL and a true X WR. 1) Other than Burke and Alt, the same problems resurfaced: the IOL and blocking TEs. In addition to Herbert playing bad, and the usual bunch of sacks on Herbert when we get to the 4th quarter, we have the following issues. (i) Slaughter is too weak for DL players in this league. Many plays in the run game fail because he cannot sustain a block. Three FGs instead of three TDs in the first half because drives end with Slaughter whiffing a block (see plays 18, 25, and 35 below). Slaughter is losing in these plays in less than one second. To be fair to him, he is good in picking up stunts and pass protection. But he must add muscle and improve his technique in the run game to be a serviceable center in this league. (ii) Kolar is far from being TE1. He had a few bad blocks in this game (plays 27 and 30 below). He had a nice catch on the flea flicker for 20 yards (see play 22 below), but not much else. His timing with Herbert is awful. (iii) Rucci is a non-factor. (iv) Matlock started this game bad (plays 8 and 13 below) and had a False Start to open the second half (play 39 below), but he was okay in other plays (plays 16, 24, 26, 28, and 40 below). (v) I cannot understand why the halfwits in this coaching stuff won’t give Branson Taylor a chance when the record is 0:6. It is not that Logan Taylor is good (see plays 4, 14, 16, 17, 38, 39, 43 below). The phrase “Guards are not important in this scheme” is beyond idiotic. Play by Play Analysis Drive 1: Punt (3 & out in 68 seconds for 3 yards). 2) Incomplete Short pass right to Omarion. Blitz of 6. Ladd and QJ are up-field against 5. There should be better answers. Also, Omarion should help Justin by making sure he has a free path to throw. 3) Screen pass to Ladd for 3 yards. The Rams defense read the play. 4) Deflected pass on 3rd& 7. Ladd and Harris are at the same spot. I used to be mad at Roman for sending Ladd and KA to the same place in his Burger King Offense. It is the same in the Kale offense of Mike McDaniel. There should be more than one throwing option. Zero improvement after the Bye week. ******** Drive 2: Punt (3 & out in 84 seconds for -3 yards). Great field position at the Rams 48-yard line after Tarheeb interception, but this no-good offense is pathetic. 5) Another poorly executed screen play. This time for -2 yards by Vidal. Logan Taylor does not get in time to block McDuffie. This is going to be a long day for Taylor. I am so frustrated by this coaching stuff. Why wouldn’t they give Branson Taylor a chance after watching Logan versus KC. Absolute idiots. 6) Short pass left to Ladd for -1 yard. When you align Matlock at the slot and next to Ladd, my grandma knows it is going to be a pass to Ladd and that Matlock will block for him. I do not understand why trying 2 screens and 2 short passes in the first and second downs of the two first drives. Say what you want, but I like Burger King (Roman) more than Kale (MM). 7) Another pathetic short pass to Ladd. He thinks about the hit and cannot catch the ball. And even if he did catch ball, it wouldn’t go for more than a few yards on a 3rd & 13. ******** Drive 3: Interception (3 plays in 88 seconds for 5 yards). Another great field position at the Rams’ 43-yard line after a shank. But Herbert is thick. Another meatball. 8) Run for 4 yards (Hampton). Burke and Strange opened a lane. 9) Run for 1 yard (Vidal). Matlock whiffed a block on Petterson (#59). 10) Interception. Herbert is bad this season. Quentin Lake read the play easily. This play relies on Ladd slowly running up field to carry one DB and to interfere Lake from mirroring Kolar, so that the latter can get the ball to his outside shoulder. But Ladd carried his DB a yard deeper, and this left Lake (#37) to mirror Kolar route without disturbance, allowing him to jump the ball. Herbert should’ve realized that Lake is not affected by Ladd route, and therefore, throw the ball faster and more to the outside. Herbert had 3 drives, two of which with a great field position. Two of these drives ended with three & out, and the third drive in three & interception. And we are talking about a team after the Bye, and OC-QB that watched 4 hours of film to “fix” these issues. ******** Drive 4: FG (9 plays in 5:38 minutes for 56 yards). 11) Run for 1 yard (Mitchell). Donald sheds Strange and stop the run easily. “Guards are not important in this scheme” was one of the most idiotic phrases ever heard in football. 12) Run for 1 yard (Mitchell). What the heck are they trying to do. Rucci is running into Mitchell instead of leading with a block. This is the 11thplay offensive play of the game and so far, we are at 7 yards of offense and one interception in the first game post Bye week. 13) 7 men Blitz and a sack. We were saved by a penalty for defensive holding on QJ. This team has no answer to the blitz. 14) Finally. 30-yard completed pass to Ladd on a broken play. Matlock continues his bad start to the game with not blocking Stewart (#10), but Herbert only shines when the original play breaks. He shook Stewart off and threw to Ladd (like the play last year against MIA), who then gained extra 17 yards. This play shows that one explosive or big play on improvisation is better than 12 short gain efforts. Easy buttons are good but too many of them screens, checkdowns, short passes lead to a futile offense (ending drives). 15) Run for 1 yard (Hampton). This offense is not working. Omarion tries to find a crease and runs into Alt. Logan Taylor is doing a bad job. Try Branson Taylor. 16) 10-yard completed pass to QJ on a broken play. Strange and Burke miscommunicate and Fiske is let free into the back field. Herbert avoids Fiske and finds QJ. The theme is that Herbert is a great QB when it is free style offense. So far, the only thing that worked is Herbert avoiding pressure and finding the open WR. The defense is prepared to all the designs that MM throws at them, but no one can prepare to extended play after the QB avoids pressure. 17) Run for 6 yards (Omarion). Burke is a one-man wall. Good blocks by Ladd, Matlock and Rucci. Not so much by Logan. 18) Run for 3 yards (Mitchell). Rucci and Logan have missed their assignments. 19) Run for -1 yard (Omarion). It’s the same thing every week: Slaughter whiffs. He is too weak to be trusted on 3rd and short situations. This is a FG instead of a chance for a TD because of Slaughter in nearly every week. Pregnon was available at pick 62. Unmovable specimen versus a rag doll. FG ******** Drive 5: FG (8 plays in 3:13 minutes for 47 yards). 20) Run for 5 yards (Hampton). Good blocks by Gadsden, Alt, Burke, Kolar, and Strange. It worked because Slaughter got help from Logan (combo block), so no whiff there. 21) Incomplete pass to Kolar. Kolar should’ve tucked the ball before the tackle. 22) Completed 15-yard pass to Harris. Unlike in the Interception case, here we have Gadsden clearing the way and the DB behind Harris is not in position to reach the ball. Also helping is that it started with Ladd and Gadsden clearing the route to Harris, and not only Ladd clearing the route to Kolar… That is, it is easier to mess up with the defense when three defenders must be perfect instead of two defenders that must be perfect. 23) Completed 20-yard pass to Kolar on a flea flicker. It was Davis (#90) turn to treat Slaughter like a rag doll, but he was confused by Omarion and Mitchell, and delayed his rush to Herbert, leaving him enough time to find Kolar. 24) Short pass for 1 yard (Mitchell) on a similar flea flicker. But this time it was a screen pass, and there were too many defenders to stop the play this time. I think a deep shot after a trick play is better than all of them screens because one more explosive and you are in 1st& goal. 25) Run for 5 yards (Vidal). Good job by Alt and Matlock. But Logan and Rucci could’ve done better. The runs work best from the B or C gaps (Burke and Alt). Not outside (hit or mostly miss), and not the A gaps (Slaughter). 26) Run for 1 yard on 3rd & 4 (Vidal). 7 defenders against 6 in protection, where the B and C gaps are dense with DL players. The only way to run in such formation is up the middle (A gap). This means that Slaughter is going to be left one-on-one… In other words, it is not going to work. He loses his block before I can say Jack Robinson, and the lane that the OL is trying to create is meaningless. Also not helping is Strange. And then we have QJ running to block the second level defender leaving Alt and Logan to deal with 4 defenders. All in all, 3 defenders in the backfield immediately. As for Herbert, I expect a QB in year 7 to change the protection before the call. Count and watch how the defenders are lined up. At the very least, tell QJ to stay at the LOS. FG ******** Drive 6: FG (10 plays in 6:31 minutes for 67 yards) 27) Completed 21-yard pass to QJ. Six in protection against five rushers, and although Slaughter ends up on the ground, and Strange is spinning like a top, we have Alt to win his one-on-one. Also, Burke, Matlock and Logan did very good on this play. And this time the anticipation throw worked. The one time it worked in this game. This throw worked because the triangle of defenders inside which QJ enters is big enough. Herbert should throw these passes only when the triangle is big enough. 28) Run for 2 yards (Hampton). Kolar did not block McDuffie well. The others are doing their work fine. Especially Burke, Logan, and Alt. 29) Run for 3 yards (Hampton). Strange reaches the second level, and instead of pushing a much lighter DB (Lake) out of the way, he let him get to Hampton. Guards are so important in any scheme. Everyone else is doing a good job including Matlock and Slaughter. Burke and Alt had a perfect game so far. 30) Completed pass for 6 yards (Harris). He gains the extra yard for a first down after the catch. Again, these routes concepts work when 2 WRs are asked to clear the way to a third pass catcher. Here, Ladd and QJ clears the route to Harris. It is hard for a LB to flip his hips in time, and we get a completion. Harris has a big body and he should be used more. 31) Run for -1 yard (Vidal). Kolar whiffs his block on Watson. Second time he is executing poorly in this drive against a much smaller player. The others are doing a good job 32) Short pass right for 4 yards (Hampton). Good block by Matlock. 33) Completed pass for 15 yards (Gadsden). Slaughter is good in picking up stunts. He should add muscle to be serviceable in the run game, and he can be a good center. Here, Herbert escapes to the right to avoid the pressure/stunt. He finds Gadsden free. Vidal motion pre-snap drags Lake to the edge (where Gadsden should end up), and the route of Ladd clears the way to Gadsden. 34) Run for 3 yards (Vidal). The first bad play of Burke, who cannot get to Speights in time. The rest are blocking well. 35) Herbert scrambles for 4 yards. Nice help of Logan to Slaughter, cearing the lane to Herbert. 36) Run for no gain (Hampton). Who if not Slaughter (this time on Fiske). Third time that a good drive in this half ends with Slaughter whiffing a block. Three FGs instead of three potential TDs. FG ******** Drive 7: End of half (short pass, spike, and Hail Mary pass for 54 yards and no points). 37) Completed pass to QJ for 5 yards. 38) Spiking the ball to leave 4 seconds. 39) Herbert avoids the pressure from Young (winning Burke) and Fiske (winning Logan), waiting for Ladd, QJ and Harris to reach the endzone. He then launches a 60-yard bomb. Instead of grabbing the ball with his hands up, QJ was expecting a body catch on a Hail Mary pass. This is a TD with Mike Williams. The ball finds his way to Ladd, but he is not strong enough to gain one yard into the end zone. He is not Puka. ******** Second Half Drive 8: Punt (3 & out in 110 seconds for 5 yards). The Rams did their halftime adjustments. The Chargers did not. 40) Run for -4 yards (Vidal). False Start of Matlock was followed by Logan losing to Donald at light speed. Logan blocking Donald should be outlawed. How quickly 1st & 10 gets to 2nd & 19 with this team. 41) Run for 4 yards (Herbert on a design run). Good leading block of Matlock. 42) Completed quick pass for 10 yards (Harris). Slant with 5 yards after catch. But this is not good enough on 3rd & 15. ******** Drive 9: Interception (4 plays in 115 seconds for 14 yards). 43) Run for 4 yards (Vidal). Kolar created a wall an open lane behind him. 44) Run for 1 yard (Mithcell). Murchison (#52) sheds Logan Taylor and stop the run. 45) Completed pass for 9 yards (Gadsden). Another simple quick pass on a clear-out concept (good work of Harris). I am happy to see that Gadsden turns his head in time. In previous weeks he would take his time while Herbert was running for his life in the back field. 46) The second meatball of the day. The 10th interception of Herbert in 7 games (only five TDs). Nothing works right. Herbert had a clean pocket and 4+ seconds to throw the ball with 10 yards from the closest rusher. McDuffie not seen behind Matlock is not an excuse. I also do not get why Kolar continues to run instead of coming back or waiting for the ball once he found the soft spot in the zone. This reminds me that KA is one of the smartest football players I have ever watched. ******** Drive 10: Punt (5 plays in 3:24 minutes for 7 yards. Sad.) 47) Short right pass to Mitchell for 4 yards. 48) Run for 14 yards (Vidal). Great blocks of everyone in the Oline. This play worked because the Rams played without big IDL players. Not because the Chargers OL is good. 49) Run for 0 yards (Hampton). McDuffie diagnosed the play because he is a great player. Yet, Logan Taylor should have blocked McDuffie instead of the ILB. 50) Sack & Fumble. Every week we get to the 4th quarter and the OL fails miserably. This time Kolar on Bailey (#47). Kolar should have prepared better to this week instead of shooting videos with the Chargers media team. This is sad to watch. Harbaugh is not holding players accountable. 51) Completed screen pass to Vidal for 9 yards on 3rd& 30. ******** Drive 11: Downs (10 plays in 5:34 for 57 yards). The game is already lost. Like the 52 yards Hail Mary pass, these plays appear on the stat sheet, and they may be good for fantasy football, but they are meaningless numbers. 52) Completed 12 yards checkdown pass to Mitchell (up the middle). 53) Short pass right to Hampton for 3 yards. 54) Herbert scrambles for 5 yards. Stewart is winning Burke. Alt is the only perfect player this game. 55) Completed pass for 12 yards to Gadsden who is lined up outside. Nice clear-out by Ladd. 56) Incomplete pass. The pressure at Herbert face is too fast. Kolar leaves Young to rush free at Herbert without a chip. 57) Short right pass to QJ for 1 yard. This is a play that Herbert should hold the ball one more second and then try Kolar because three players get close to QJ and letting Kolar leak deep. But whatever. This game is already lost. 58) The Refs feel sorry for the Chargers. Roughing the passer on Fiske to extend the drive. 59) Herbert scrambles for 2 yards. It is sad to watch this team. Greg Roman and Joe Lombardi were much better suited to Justin Herbert. 60) Sack. Alt tried to help Logan with Donald and lost his base against the delayed rush/stunt of Stewart. Alt is better than any othe player on offesne. But even he is not perfect. 61) Completed 9-yard short pass to Gadsden. These passes work because the defense protects the deep part of the field. 62) Completed 7-yard pass to Gadsden on 4th & 8. Last play of this miserable game. Herbert lost the team this game long before with his two meatballs.