Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers were dominated at home by the Colts. “Charger Power” unfortunately did not help the team despite playing in front of their home fans and a halftime ceremony to honor former tight end Antonio Gates.
It was a tough watch for most of the day, outside of Herbert’s passing that led to two big performances from a pair of pass catchers. Something is off with this team, and it seemingly goes beyond the injuries.
It’s a short week, however, so at least the Bolts can flush the loss immediately to start preparation for a Vikings squad coming to SoFi.
Let’s go ahead and check out this week’s winners and one massive loser.
TE Oronde Gadsden II
What a historic day for the Chargers rookie tight end.
Despite in a losing effort, Gadsden put up seven receptions for 164 receiving yards and his first career touchdown against the Colts. That yardage total is the most by a rookie tight end in franchise history and the most by a rookie tight end since 1985. The last time a tight end for the Chargers went over the 100-yard mark was Hunter Henry during the 2019 season.
Gadsden showed just about everything you could want in a young star. He exhibited strong hands at the catch point, run after the catch ability, and impressive route running. He was the whole package against the Colts and it’s hard to imagine him not being a focal point of this offense going forward if he’s able to keep up this level of play.
WR Keenan Allen
Sunday was a vintage performance for Allen who caught 11 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. The score was not unlike Ladd McConkey’s score in the red zone as Allen came flying back towards Herbert via scramble rules to show up in front of him just in time before he needed to throw.
Even at his age, Allen is still finding a way to get open when his quarterback needs him the most. In a year like this one, that’s only going to be more and more key for the team’s postseason hopes.
Defensive Effort and Discipline
This past Sunday was most points allowed this season (38) by the Chargers and the third consecutive game in which the Chargers allowed 27 or more points. In all, the defense has allowed 20 or more points in all but one game, a number they allowed less than on average across the entire 2024 season.
While it’s easy to point to injuries, that honestly doesn’t tell the whole story anymore. Injuries be damned, this unit looks like a shell of its former self. It’s a far cry from the 2024 team and it’s dang near unrecognizable from the group that helped beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the season opener.
Following Sunday’s loss, I found myself realizing that we’re simply not hearing certain names anymore throughout these last few games. We’re not hearing about Daiyan Henley and...
