The real Chargers? L.A. resembles contender in win over Packers Published: Nov 03, 2019 at 02:54 PM Jim Trotter CARSON, Calif. -- brought an unexpected guest to the interview room following the ' stunning over the . Squirming in his arms was 8-month-old Anna, his seventh daughter and the last of his nine children. She wore a sky-blue dre s with gold underpants and had a cutene s quotient that was off the meter. His media obligations done, Rivers trekked back onto the field in Dignity Health Sports Park and subbed one daughter for another while the rest of the family milled around. It is not uncommon for Rivers to bring his children onto the field after a home game, but neither is it customary. Perhaps the 16th-year veteran was seeking to create memories that are not guaranteed to him beyond this season, which is the last Willy Adames Jersey on his contract. Will he retire in the offseason or play another year? And if he does return, will it be in Los Angeles? There are so many unknowns that maybe Rivers wanted to smell some of the roses even as he profe ses to be focused on the game at hand. One certainty, though, is that games like Sunday's give him reason to believe that the appearance that has eluded him his entire career is not beyond his grasp. Matched against a squad that was 7-1 and had won four in a row, the , dealing with some inner turmoil after , turned in their most complete performance of the season. They dominated the in every phase of the game: converting each of their four field-goal attempts; holding Green Bay to 84 yards of offense through three-plus quarters and 184 overall; and running for a net of 139 yards after being held to 39 or fewer the previous four games. On a sun-soaked afternoon, before an overwhelming contingent among the 25,435 in attendance, Los Angeles looked like the contender many thought the team to be entering the season. Which begs the question: Who are the real (4-5)? They lost by a touchdown to the , and , and by a field goal each to the and . They've lost games they should have won, fumbling inside the 1-yard line at the end in Tenne see, and won games they should have lost, like when Indianapolis and Chicago mi sed what should have been chip-shot field goals. "This game just shows that we can come out and compete with any team," said cornerback Jr. "We've been doing it all year, we just haven't found a way to win some of those close games like we did last year. Every game we've lost has been by seven points or le s." Blake Snell Jersey Recent history is that the start slow and finish fast in a season, but this year felt different following the dismi sal of offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt on Monday night. The move hinted at panic. After all, the ranked in the top 10 in scoring two of the previous three seasons under Whisenhunt and were 13th the other year. But philosophical differences over play-calling and the lack of a consistent run game contributed to the change and created an air of uncertainty about how the offense would function with quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen a suming play-calling duties in collaboration with the rest of the offensive staff. At times on Sunday, it was common to see Steichen huddled on the sideline with head coach Anthony Lynn, line coach Pat Meyer, tight ends coach Rip Scherer and receivers coach Phil McGeoghan. While the tendency is to think that too many voices could be a bad thing, the play-calling proce s, with rare exception, ran smoothly. Depending on the situation, Steichen would mention on the headset that he was considering two or three particular plays, and the other Brent Honeywell Jersey coaches, depending on their area of expertise, would offer their support or suggest something different based on their knowledge of their personnel and what the defense is doing. "I thought Shane called a good game," Lynn said. "He understands what I want and is plenty aggre sive." Perhaps his strongest trait was a willingne s to keep it simple. Rather than go through his call sheet trying to mix things up, he simply stayed with what was working. The struggled to slow the ' one-back, three-receiver sets, so Steichen often stayed with that package -- Rivers estimated they ran it on 25 of their 68 snaps -- because it was so effective, particularly in the run game, which was a point of emphasis coming in. "We've been challenged every single week to run the ball better," said left tackle . "Honestly, it's inexcusable to have two really good backs in and and not run the ball well. I took that as a personal challenge. I know our group did. At some point in time, you just get fed up. What does it take? We've all got to be better; how do we be better? Get back to the details. Get back to the fundamentals. And Shane did a good job calling the game." A noticeable difference in the run game was the ' desire to work the interior of the line rather than the perimeter of the defense. They consistently ran between the guards, finding creases that allowed them to extend drives and keep the ball out of the hands of , who had thrown for 10 touchdowns in his previous three games and posted the first perfect pa ser rating in history two weeks ago. Their early po se sions didn't result in touchdowns -- they settled for field goals on four Charlie Morton Jersey of their first five po se sions, three of them in the red zone -- but their opening series set the tone, lasting 15 plays and 8 minutes. During one four-po se sion sequence that bridged the second, third and fourth quarters, their series lasted 13 plays, eight plays, six plays and 10 plays. They did not have a three-and-out all day and won time of po se sion 35:51 to 24:09. "This was a good slice of humble pie for us. We're kind of rolling, 7-1, and starting to listen to the chatter maybe a little too much," said Rodgers, who finished 23 of 35 for 161 yards and a touchdown and was sacked three times, twice by . "That was a good learning experience for us. We have to come ready to play. I don't think we were locked in from the start, unfortunately. I'm not sure exactly the reason. So we have to look in the mirror and be very honest about our performance -- myself, first, and then our offense, our energy, our attention to detail. We have to get better." Evan Longoria Jersey The were saying the same thing about their run game coming into Sunday, but those concerns were absent postgame. Gordon finished with 80 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Ekeler had 70 yards on 12 carries. In the pa s game, had three catches for 111 yards and tight end added 84 on seven receptions. It was the first time all season the team won without Rivers throwing a touchdown pa s. He was 21 of 28 for 294 yards and zero turnovers. At times in the past, he played as if burdened with the reality that the team will go as he goes, but days like Sunday can allow him to exhale and lean on other parts of the offense, which he's fine with. He knows that reaching their ultimate goal will require balance and complementary football from all phases. "We should have won a couple of games early and we would be feeling a heck of a lot better," he said. "But we're in a position to at least be in the mix." This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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