Jacksonville 14
Los Angeles 38
Sunday, September 18, 2016 04:25 PM
(ET)
Chargers hold big lead while routing Jaguars
The Sports Xchange
Sep 18, 2016
There was no blown lead this week for the San Diego Chargers, even after losing another valuable offensive player.
Overcoming the loss of running back Danny Woodhead to a potential season-ending injury, San Diego routed the Jacksonville Jaguars 38-14 Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
Quarterback Philip Rivers completed 17 of 24 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns, two to Travis Benjamin, who caught six passes for 115 yards. Running back Melvin Gordon enjoyed the first 100-yard game of his NFL career, picking up 102 yards on 24 carries and scoring his third touchdown in two games.
Most of that happened after Woodhead, counted on to help pick up the slack after wide receiver Keenan Allen suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the second quarter of last week's 33-27 overtime loss in Kansas City, left the game late in the first quarter with a right leg injury.
Defensively, the Chargers (1-1) didn't allow a touchdown until early in the fourth quarter as Blake Bortles found Marcedes Lewis for a 4-yard scoring strike. Bortles added a 15-yard touchdown pass to Corey Grant with 1:12 left.
Bortles finished the day 31 of 50 for 329 yards, but was intercepted twice by cornerback Casey Heyward and also lost a fumble.
Gordon's 3-yard run capped a game-opening 75-yard drive with 10:17 left in the first quarter, giving San Diego a 7-0 lead that just kept growing.
Rivers hit Benjamin with a 6-yard touchdown pass on the second quarter's first play, followed just under five minutes later by his 2-yard scoring flip to Antonio Gates. That occurred after the Jaguars were flagged for offsides before the Chargers could try to convert a fourth-and-1 from the 4-yard line.
San Diego, which coughed up a 24-3 third quarter lead in last week's loss to the Chiefs, removed any doubt from this one with two more touchdowns. Rivers and Tyrel Williams hooked up for a 44-yard touchdown pass, Williams fighting through multiple defenders over the last five yards, to make it 28-0 with 11:06 left in the third quarter.
Rivers and Benjamin connected again on a 45-yard strike with 2:56 remaining in the quarter, effectively ending the game's competitive phase. Kicker Josh Lambo tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 7:04 remaining to finish the Chargers' scoring.
San Diego drew its smallest crowd for a home game in 12 years, as just 52,165 attended -- almost 16,000 shy of capacity.
NOTES: Jacksonville DE Jared Odrick (elbow) left during the game's opening drive but was able to return. ... Jaguars RB Chris Ivory (undisclosed medical condition) was inactive for a second straight week. CB Prince Amukamura, QB Brandon Allen, DT Tyson Alualu, G Christopher Reed, DE Chris Smith and WR Bryan Walters were also inactive for Jacksonville. ... San Diego's inactives were DE Joey Bosa (hamstring), T Tyreek Burwell, NT Ryan Carrethers, CB Adrian Phillips, G Max Tuerk, G Kenny Wiggins and RB Andre Williams.
Sep 18, 2016
There was no blown lead this week for the San Diego Chargers, even after losing another valuable offensive player.
Overcoming the loss of running back Danny Woodhead to a potential season-ending injury, San Diego routed the Jacksonville Jaguars 38-14 Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
Quarterback Philip Rivers completed 17 of 24 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns, two to Travis Benjamin, who caught six passes for 115 yards. Running back Melvin Gordon enjoyed the first 100-yard game of his NFL career, picking up 102 yards on 24 carries and scoring his third touchdown in two games.
Most of that happened after Woodhead, counted on to help pick up the slack after wide receiver Keenan Allen suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the second quarter of last week's 33-27 overtime loss in Kansas City, left the game late in the first quarter with a right leg injury.
Defensively, the Chargers (1-1) didn't allow a touchdown until early in the fourth quarter as Blake Bortles found Marcedes Lewis for a 4-yard scoring strike. Bortles added a 15-yard touchdown pass to Corey Grant with 1:12 left.
Bortles finished the day 31 of 50 for 329 yards, but was intercepted twice by cornerback Casey Heyward and also lost a fumble.
Gordon's 3-yard run capped a game-opening 75-yard drive with 10:17 left in the first quarter, giving San Diego a 7-0 lead that just kept growing.
Rivers hit Benjamin with a 6-yard touchdown pass on the second quarter's first play, followed just under five minutes later by his 2-yard scoring flip to Antonio Gates. That occurred after the Jaguars were flagged for offsides before the Chargers could try to convert a fourth-and-1 from the 4-yard line.
San Diego, which coughed up a 24-3 third quarter lead in last week's loss to the Chiefs, removed any doubt from this one with two more touchdowns. Rivers and Tyrel Williams hooked up for a 44-yard touchdown pass, Williams fighting through multiple defenders over the last five yards, to make it 28-0 with 11:06 left in the third quarter.
Rivers and Benjamin connected again on a 45-yard strike with 2:56 remaining in the quarter, effectively ending the game's competitive phase. Kicker Josh Lambo tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 7:04 remaining to finish the Chargers' scoring.
San Diego drew its smallest crowd for a home game in 12 years, as just 52,165 attended -- almost 16,000 shy of capacity.
NOTES: Jacksonville DE Jared Odrick (elbow) left during the game's opening drive but was able to return. ... Jaguars RB Chris Ivory (undisclosed medical condition) was inactive for a second straight week. CB Prince Amukamura, QB Brandon Allen, DT Tyson Alualu, G Christopher Reed, DE Chris Smith and WR Bryan Walters were also inactive for Jacksonville. ... San Diego's inactives were DE Joey Bosa (hamstring), T Tyreek Burwell, NT Ryan Carrethers, CB Adrian Phillips, G Max Tuerk, G Kenny Wiggins and RB Andre Williams.
