The Chargers toughed out a 6-0 victory over the lowly Patriots on Sunday in a game that featured cold and wet conditions that slowed both offenses. But Los Angeles’ defense and special teams answered the call, shutting New England out and winning the field position battle.
After the game, Brandon Staley said:
We did what we had to do to win. That was a big goal of ours. There weren’t going to be any style points today; I wasn’t expecting it to be a high-scoring affair.
Staley praised the preparation of both the coaching staff and the players throughout the course of this week, noting again that the Chargers defense planned for three different quarterback options for the Patriots. Heading into the game, there was some uncertainty whether Bailey Zappe, the recently benched Mac Jones, or dual-threat rookie Malik Cunningham would take the bulk of the reps under center.
We just knew that Mac and Bailey would be similar. I think [Zappe] moves a little bit better, so we were ready for the movement aspect of him, and then we were ready for Cunningham as well. Just if he showed up in the game. I thought our defensive coaches did a really good job getting our guys ready to play today.
That preparation paid off, as the Chargers were able to mostly contain Zappe as a scrambler. Keeping him in the pocket also led to more pressure, a big reason why LA ended up with five sacks, including a key Derwin James takedown on fourth down late in the game, on Sunday.
Los Angeles won’t always have weather and a backup quarterback on their side. But they also won’t always have to find a way to win with only six points on offense. It’s two weeks in a row now that the Chargers defense has limited scoring opportunities for their opponent. If they can continue that run while the offense returns to form, Los Angeles could be playing interesting football to close the year.