The Los Angeles Chargers (8-3) are coming off their best victory of the season – a 45-10 blowout over the Arizona Cardinals. And while their previous game was an unexpected 23-22 loss to the Denver Broncos, even that loss doesn’t look as bad now that the Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers and pulled off a second straight victory over a good team. Now the schedule gets a little tougher down the stretch. First off comes a game against the previously mentioned Steelers (7-3-1) on Sunday Night Football – which will be a heck of a shootout. Philip Rivers and the passing attack are going to be key to winning this game.
Los Angeles Chargers Passing Attack Key to Win Against Pittsburgh Steelers
No Melvin Gordon Available
One of the few downsides to the big win on Sunday was that running back Melvin Gordon got hurt in the process. He suffered an MCL sprain, and while the hope is that he’ll be back before the end of the regular season, he definitely won’t be available for this Steelers game. And not having your star running back available is not a good thing when you’re going up against a fellow playoff contender.
Now, they do have Austin Ekeler available as their backup. That might sound like a pretty good deal. But he already played as the starting halfback earlier this season when Gordon was out before, and he only got 42 yards. Granted, this was against a pretty decent Tennessee Titans running defense (97-yard Lamar Miller touchdown aside). Regardless, one has to wonder if the Chargers will use the running attack as much as they normally do.
Rivers Is on Fire
Rivers is coming off one of the best performances by a quarterback in NFL history. This game saw him go 28-for-29 with 259 yards and three touchdown passes. Only one incomplete pass, and 25 straight completions – the record for the most consecutive completions in one game. And the Cardinals, for all their flaws, actually have a top 10 pass defense (in terms of yardage).
With that in mind, plus the fact that the team is going to be without their starting running back, it feels right now like the game script would call for more passing. Rivers is balling out right now. He now has 26 touchdowns passes and only six interceptions through 11 games, and his passer rating of 115.7 is still third in the league behind only Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees. And his primary weapons in the passing game are healthy. Besides, in the process of having to outscore the opposition, they may not have much choice anyway…
Can’t Stop Them, Outscore Them
The Steelers have one of the very best offenses in the league. The Chargers will have to deal with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and James Conner. Chances are that even if the Chargers defense shows up playing some of their best football, they’re still going to give up a few touchdowns (at least). The Steelers have been held below 20 points only twice this season. In order to keep up with them, the Chargers offense may need to have some aggressiveness of its own.
Last Word
The Steelers are probably the third-best team the Chargers will have faced all year, aside from the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams (whom they both already lost to). Admittedly, a loss here would not hurt their playoff standings at this point. However, a victory would still be a big statement for them in the AFC. For all anybody knows, the Chargers could face the Steelers in the playoffs again. These are games that they have to win if they intend to make it far into the playoffs. And this time, the Chargers may need to lean on Rivers and the passing attack a little more than usual in order for them to get that victory.
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