Chargers 25, Cardinals 24
I’ve heard this matchup referred to as the Spiderman meme game, as both teams mirror each other. Both have explosive defenses, leaky defenses and coaches who make questionable decisions in crunch time. We saw all of this in this one-point thriller.
Arizona’s defense came to play early, sacking Justin Herbert a couple of times on third downs. They also appeared to recover a Joshua Palmer lost fumble, though that was overturned by replay. Arizona had a chance to establish an early lead as a result, but led by just three at halftime because it made some mistakes. The Cardinals lost a fumble themselves when James Conner coughed up the ball, while a Kyler Murray pass to DeAndre Hopkins was underthrown and picked.
The teams made mistakes in the second half as well. Matt Prater missed a 49-yard field goal, while a Herbert potential interception was overturned by replay review. Herbert is lucky the turnover was negated because he didn’t see Zaven Collins. Herbert later took a big sack on a third-down Isaiah Simmons blitz while trying to come back from a seven-point deficit. However, thanks to some shoddy play-calling by Kliff Kingsbury on the ensuing drive, the Cardinals gave the Chargers one more chance, and Herbert delivered. Herbert peppered Austin Ekeler with several passes, with Ekeler barely reaching over the goal line for what appeared to be the tying score. The Chargers went for the win, as Herbert found Gerald Everett for the decisive two-point conversion.
Herbert had some rough moments in this game, but finished with a great stat line, going 35-of-47 for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He’s very fortunate that he wasn’t picked off in a crucial moment, but he made amends by coming through in the clutch.
Herbert managed to lead the team in rushing with 38 yards on four scrambles. Ekeler didn’t do much on the ground (5-20), but he was instrumental in the passing game, as usual. He caught 11 of his 15 targets for 60 yards and a touchdown.
