Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers trotted out a bunch of backups against the Broncos starters and the game went about as good as you’d expect. Los Angeles lost 19-3 and barely managed to put up a fight outside of a few drives where they managed to cross the 50-yard line.
Understandably, there wasn’t a ton to write home about here. If you’re still interested in how some of the team’s second and third-stringers performed, you can check it all out below.
Best (min. 20 snaps)
OL Trevor Penning – 81.9
WR Keenan Allen – 65.9
TE Oronde Gadsden II – 65.0
RB Jaret Patterson – 60.6
OT Bobby Hart – 57.4
Penning had his best game as a Charger and it came while starting in this throwaway game. He was stellar in run blocking (87.2) while also being fairly good in pass protection (65.5).
Allen caught enough passes to cash in $1 million in incentives. He was unsurprisingly Trey Lance’s top target.
Patterson was strong in pass protection at 74.1, second best on the team.
Worst
OT Austin Deculus – 33.9
OG Branson Taylor – 34.3
QB Trey Lance – 36.4
C Andre James – 46.8
TE Tyler Conklin – 48.6
Deculus allowed six pressures and three sacks against the Broncos pass rush. Nik Bonitto unfortunately ate him up all game long. Taylor allowed four pressures in his first NFL start which was third most on the team.
Lance barely could hang in the pocket for long behind his offensive line and it showed in his final stats. It was a rough outing for him if he wanted to show other teams that he could be a worthy quarterback in 2026.
Best
EDGE Odafe Oweh – 80.5
CB Tarheeb Still – 72.2
S Tony Jefferson – 70.6
LB Marlowe Wax – 69.1
DT Da’Shawn Hand – 68.5
Oweh recorded four pressures and notched his eighth sack of the season. He was the best defender on the Chargers by a good bit.
Jefferson had the team’s best pass rush grade at 70.3 and the second-best mark in coverage at 74.6.
Worst
EDGE Kyle Kennard – 40.8
S Marcus Maye – 49.7
LB Troy Dye – 50.8
DT Teair Tart – 53.3
LB Del’Shawn Phillips – 54.9
Kennard’s grade was sunk by a 28.9 in coverage and a 21.9 in tackling, both of which were the worst on the team. His 51.4 in pass rushing was also third worst.
Maye had a strong 82.2 in tackling but a 51.1 in coverage knocked him hard.
Phillips’ 34.6 in coverage was second worst on the team and his 35.8 in tackling was also amongst the worst marks for the Chargers.
