Bolts From The Blue
Jesse Minter has been nothing short of a wizard with the Chargers’ undrafted and unheralded defensive backs.
The Chargers beat the Lions 34-7 on Thursday night in the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. It was the defense that led the way as they forced five turnovers and picked of Detroit quarterbacks three times, including two from undrafted rookies Nikko Reed and Myles Purchase.
Trey Lance started for the Chargers and played well into the third quarter, finishing with a pair of touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable game of football to watch if you are a Chargers fan and not so much if you root for Detroit. Normally these early preseason games are nearly unwatchable, but Thursday night’s performance was actually one of the best preseason performances in recent years for the Bolts.
With that said, here are four takeaways from Thursday’s win.
If you ask anyone about Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh’s style of football, you’re going to get some response along the lines of “they’re going to run the crap out of the football” or something close. This is going to happen, but one play stood out to me above all others on Thursday night and that was the seam shot to fullback/tight end Tucker Fisk for a chunk gain in the second quarter.
Lance took the snap, faked a handoff, then rocketed a pass up the right seam to a leaping Fisk who brought in the catch for 19 yards. Before you could actually realize who caught the ball, you may have assumed it was to rookie Oronde Gadsden II or maybe a wideout. But to everyone’s surprise, the massive blocking-specialist ended up standing amongst the scrum.
I loved this play so much because it involved a very unsung player coming up with one of the biggest plays of the game. Yeah it’s just the Hall of Fame Game, but your fourth-string tight end coming up big for his young and inexperienced quarterback? That’s always a win in my book. It also showed the coaching staff is willing to trust Fisk to make something happen in a situation he likely hasn’t been placed in all that much in his career.
Just a whole lot to love here.
Both Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith have been making plays on a consistent basis this training camp. But if I were to choose which one has been the most “splashy,” it’s been KLS. And on Thursday night, you were able to say the same thing as the latter hauled in a pair of passes for 43 yards (led the team) and a 15-yard score. Unfortunately for Harris, he went catch-less on just one target from Lance.
We know how talented Harris is and the expectations for him remain, but don’t be surprised to see KLS right there with...
