Saturday was the first opportunity for the Los Angeles Chargers to offer a glimpse into what the new regime is cooking up for the first season under Jim Harbaugh.
If what was on the field against the Seattle Seahawks is any indication, Chargers fans are in for a long season.
Easton Stick Plays First Half
Stick’s initial first down came when he took a designed run option play that he took for 11 yards. That came with 4:34 left in the second quarter. Before that, he executed five threes and outs, and he also had a pass deflected and eventually intercepted.
He finished his day going five for 13 for 32 yards and a quarterback rating of just 14.6.
In the first few series, Stick had the benefit of playing behind much of the Chargers starting offensive line. Brenden Jamies was the one exception, getting the nod as starting center over Bradley Bozeman. Joe Alt played much of the first half.
No Look At Los Angeles Chargers Weapon
Pass Catchers
One of the biggest questions heading into this season will be who will the Chargers trot out at wide receiver. Because there was no rhythm or flow to the offense, we weren’t able to get an idea of who could be in contention for the depth spots at WR.
For the most part, the Chargers’ offense wasn’t pushing the ball down the field, but settling for a dink-and-dunk offense. Most of Stick’s passes were short, going toward running backs. Three of his completions went to the backfield or in the flat.
The one exception was two targets headed toward DJ Chark. Chark couldn’t come up with a catchable pass early in the first quarter. Later he was targeted, but the pass was nearly picked off. Chark got his hands on it but couldn’t haul it in before stepping out of bounds.
Running Backs
For all the talk of the Harbaugh/Greg Roman running game, they didn’t lean that way in this game. The Chargers ran the ball just nine times, for a paltry 33 yards.
Fourth-year RB, Jaret Patterson had the offensive plays of the first half. First, he picked up nine on a run up the middle, then followed that up with a 16-yard rush outside of the offensive tackle. Much of the second run’s yardage came after making the first man miss.
