Dink n dunk O sets tone for the LA Rams vs. Chargers game

Okay, the place was rocking, the atmosphere at SoFi Stadium was electric and goosebumpy, and the fans were ready for some football. This place has been starving for live football. Despite the 2020 season taking place, it was all virtual. While that did fill a crucial void of normalcy in our lives when everything spun off into a new and surreal reality, the goods fell very much into the category of raiding the refrigerator and not finding what you were hungry for.

Fans walked away after the 2020 season grateful for football, but still listening to the rumble of stomachs for football live-action that was never satiated, never satisfied, never met. Well, that all ends on Saturday evening, August 14, 2021, at 7:00 pm PT. Whether you cheer for the LA Rams (Go Rams!) or the LA Chargers, that football itch is getting a good three hours or so scratching.

The game is already officially underway, and while it’s just the first set of downs.  If you had to set the perfect evening for NFL preseason to debut. The LA Rams showed up in the royal blue on royal blue (for the fashionistas who track that sort of thing).

Placekicker Matthew Gay kicked off, and the LA Rams allowed an 18-yard return. That set the stage. LA  Chargers QB Chase Daniels opened with a nine-yard pass play, followed by a rush for the first down.  Rookie cornerback Brontae Harris was targeted quickly with the first two passes, but he was able to break up the second pass. Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer caught his second pass for another first down, and then followed up with another quick pass near the sideline.

Los Angeles Rams

LA Rams OLB Justin Lawler had a huge stop on second down.  But once more the Chargers found Palmer on what appeared to be a short pass play just across the 40-yard line for a first down. The ball popped out just as the receiver hit the ground. Staley ran the Rams defense, so he knows that, just like the Green Bay Packers offense in the Divisional Round in the NFL Playoffs, the secret to beating this defense is to take short-yardage high-percentage plays. So far that strategy seems to be working out.

After the first down, the Chargers took a shot to the end zone. While that missed, Daniels rolled out on the next play and had multiple wide-open receivers. The Chargers rushed for another first down. The Chargers made another pair of completions to move the ball patiently to the Rams 18 yard line.  Safety J.R. Reed made a huge third-down stop to force a fourth-down. The Chargers went for it on fourth down and made it, although Ernest Jones looked very good.

Another completed pass by the Chargers, the 17th play of the drive, pushed the ball down to the seven-yard line.  A subsequent run gave the Chargers first and down on the Rams five-yard line. On second and goal, Justin Lawler was huge on pressuring Daniels. On third down found Chase Daniels targeting Brontae Harris, but it fell incomplete.  On fourth down, the Chargers kicked the field goal.

The LA Rams need to tighten up the defense, or force opposing quarterbacks out of the comfort of those quick high percentage plays. A-gap blitzing? Zone blitz? The fact is that the Chargers’ offense is picking up where the Green Bay Packers’ offense left off. The Rams offense will need to answer back now.