The Chargers offense with Philip Rivers is like “Avengers: Infinity War.” It’s compelling, it moves well, and has moments of greatness.
The Chargers offense without Philip Rivers is like “Justice League.” It’s confusing, has no flow, and makes very little sense.
The Bolts lost to the Saints 36-7 in their third exhibition game in front of 22,597 “fans” at StubHub Center in Carson.
New Orleans got the ball first and on the 3rd play of the game Drew Brees tried to go deep down the middle but the pass was intercepted by rookie safety Derwin James, who was in the starting lineup for the first time.
Rivers only played for two drives. The first one covered 59 yards and would have resulted in points except it’s the preseason so head coach Anthony Lynn decided to go for it on 4th and goal from the four yard line. Rivers tried to his wideout Mike Williams but the pass fell incomplete.
The second drive covered 42 yards and ended in the end zone when running back Detrez Newsome scored from five yards out and a 7-0 Chargers lead. So with Rivers the offense had 101 yards and seven points.
After that they embarked on seven drives that went a total of 65 yards and zero points. That is how atrocious the backup QB situation is for this team.
Cardale Jones and Geno Smith couldn’t get anything going and Smith gifted the Saints some points when he made a bad throw into coverage that was picked off and returned 58 yards for a touchdown. While the Bolts are doomed if Rivers gets hurt the Saints might have found a capable backup.
Taysom Hill is a 2nd year passer out of BYU and a freak of an athlete. He completed seven of eight passes for 66 yards and a touchdown and added six carries for 35 yards and another score.
The preseason finishes on Thursday. The Chargers hit the road to face the 49ers while the Saints host the Rams.
