https://thesportingtribune.com/chargers-finish-the-game-on-their-terms-in-comeback-victory-over-cardinals

Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was aggressive on Sunday and it paid
off in their victory over Arizona.

It seems like every week Chargers games come down to the last drive. The
last two weeks didn’t fall in their favor. On Sunday, it did after they
beat the Arizona Cardinals 25-24 to improve to 6-5 on the season.

This was the second straight game in which quarterback Justin Herbert
looked comfortable in the pocket, thanks to the return of receiver
Keenan Allen. The defense struggled, but they were able to come up with
two turnovers thanks to safety Derwin James.

Chargers coach Brandon Staley also decided against going for the tie and
overtime but instead put the ball in his quarterback’s hand and let him
determine the outcome.

“We wanted to finish the game on our terms,” Staley said.

Here are the takeaways from the Chargers vs. Cardinals game:

Justin Herbert is still Justin Herbert.

The world was asking if Justin Herbert was still “the guy” after a
couple of shaky performances while missing some weapons, offensive
linemen and dealing with a rib injury. He had a good performance last
week against the Chiefs, but Sunday was different.

Herbert was on throwing for 274 yards and scoring three touchdowns. He
hadn’t thrown for three touchdowns since week two at Kansas City.

“The way Justin played today is what makes him so special,” Staley said.
“Lost a bunch of players throughout the game. He never flinches. There
was a lot of pressure in that second half, and he always keeps his
poise. He never loses his belief. I thought he made a lot of winning
plays on the two-minute drive. Just a lot of big plays.”

He showed command all game long, even though he lost center Corey
Linsley right before halftime to a concussion and faced a lot of
pressure after that point.

One of his more impressive plays was right before the half, he looked
through his progressions and found a wide-open DeAndre Carter for a
33-yard touchdown. Carter has become a favorite weapon of Herbert’s when
he throws down the field.

 On the game’s final drive, Herbert faced pressure on each play but
made throws of 10, 8, 13, 16, and 3 yards to get them to third-and-seven
with 25 seconds left. The Cardinals decided to bring the pressure, but
Herbert was able to throw a screen to running back Austin Ekeler for a
10-yard gain. In the next play, he hits Ekeler for his 12th touchdown of
the season and the score that could tie or win the game.

“He had a couple plays in there that are gangster plays from the
quarterback position,” Staley said.

Herbert looked over at Staley, who put up two fingers. Allen and tight
end Gerald Everett lined up next to each other, with Ekeler coming in
motion. Two defenders focused on Ekeler, while one focused on Allen and
left Everett open for the two-point conversion.

“Smooth, like chocolate milk,” Staley said about how smooth the play went.

The defense bent but didn’t break.

Statistically, the Chargers defense had a subpar performance. They
allowed running back James Connor to rush for 120 yards on 25 carries,
giving him an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He hurt them.

They also gave up a big 33-yard touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins, which was
a whiff tackle by rookie safety J.T. Woods. Quarterback Kyler Murray
added over 240 yards off offense and scored three total touchdowns. It
was tough for them to slow him down.

“Didn’t do a good job on the quarterback,” Staley explained. “That was
disappointing. That’s obviously priority number one when you play him. I
thought we had to read area possessions that I didn’t like the one at
the end of the half and the one that they scored in the second half.
Were a better unit than that.”

Yet, the defense saved the game for the Chargers.

The Cardinals first punt didn’t happen until the fourth quarter. The
Chargers offense couldn’t get it going late in the game, so the defense
held it down, forcing the Cardinals to punt on three of their final four
possessions.

The defense was getting consistent pressure on Murray, forcing him to
make bad throws and not letting Conner get the better of them.

“I thought our defense was very similar to Justin, I felt like we kept
our poise,” Staley explained. “I felt like we made a lot of winning
plays down the stretch. I thought we had a lot of big-time performances
by guys stepping up in new roles. And again, it was just a team win, a
gutsy win.”

Staley should be aggressive moving forward

Brandon Staley hasn’t been as aggressive as he was in 2021. He was
aggressive during the game against the Cleveland Browns, which was a
little more on the reckless side, going for it on 4th down instead of
punting it and pinning Jacoby Brissett deep.

Staley against the Cardinals was smart. He picked his spot on was
aggressive at the right time, which was at the end of the game.

“I think all the guys on offense wanted to be out there for that play,”
Herbert said.

The Chargers are about to face some tough competition to end the season.
Sunday evening needs to be the return of aggressive Staley. Sometimes
you got to risk it to get the biscuit, and the Chargers head coach knows
that all too well.

They will need to pick their spots and be more aggressive moving
forward. Clearly, the players are all about it and have been all about
it since Staley brought the idea to them last season.

 “I imagined that we were going to go for it just because that’s kind
of how aggressive that we play,” Herbert said. “I love that about our
coach.”