The Los Angeles Chargers are coming off a 37-21 win over the New York Giants on Sunday in a dominant victory in SOFI Stadium. In this article, I’m going to reveal my top 5 Chargers performers from this past weekend!
1. Justin Herbert
Herbert was lights out on Sunday against the Chargers, ultimately throwing for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns – including the throw of the year. Herbert has been incredibly clutch in the moments that the Chargers have most needed him to be. Leading 17-7 and heading into a two-minute drill to end the first half isn’t necessarily a “gotta have it” moment, but it is a killer instinct moment. Especially when you also get the ball to start the second half. Despite all the naysayers of his personality, Herbert’s killer instinct showed up in big fashion on third down and 11 with 40 seconds to go on Sunday. Their standout rookie left tackle was beat on the play, creating instant pressure for Herbert, but that didn’t matter. He slid to his right and calmly delivered a 59-yard strike to Jalen Guyton for a touchdown late in the first half. The pass traveled 68 yards in the air. He was hit as he threw and he was still able to drop the pass right into a bucket and the Chargers took a 24-7 lead into halftime, essentially icing the game.
If the Chargers want to get the big win against their division rival on Thursday Night Football, Justin Herbert will need to have another great performance.
2. Rashawn Slater
Slater is the Chargers rookie of the year, and he is arguably the league’s best offensive rookie as well. He’s been one of the most important players on this Chargers roster thus far this season. It is an apparent reason that Tom Telesco and Brandon Staley made Slater their selection with the #11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Slater only allowed 1 pressure in this game against the Giants per PFF.com. This would be the 9th such game this season in which Slater has allowed 2 pressures or less. He’s been everything we could have ever wanted and then some.
3. Kyzir White
This is more of an opportunity for me to praise White’s performance this season but he’s been incredible this season. Not saying that he didn’t play well against the Giants. However, he’s been playing at this high caliber level for the vast majority of the season. Since their Week 8 loss to the New England Patriots, White has only missed 3 tackles and has 29 run stops which is third-most in the entire league. He’s been the roaming sideline-sideline linebacker that the Chargers have needed that can do a little bit of everything. Look for White to get a big pay raise this offseason, anything other than that would be a disappointment.
4. Joey Bosa
This is crazy to think about and I can’t believe that I’m saying this but we might be at a point where Bosa is an underrated player, unless you are a Chargers fan, and even then he might be underrated. Bosa is coming off of a game against the Giants which featured him having 5 pressures and a sack in this game, he hit Mike Glennon three additional times. His sixth such game this season with at least 5 pressures or more. Joey Bosa is the definition of a game wrecker (who will celebrate in hilarious fashion after he destroys your game plan). A dominant pass rusher in this league who is ranked 7th in Pass Rush Win Rate and 9th in pressures per PFF.com. Chargers fans let’s not take Joey Bosa for granted. He is a special talent and a dominant force in this league.
5. Jalen Guyton
No way I was going to leave the receiver who caught the pass of the year off the list for this game! Guyton had a good performance in this one including the touchdown catch and racked up 87 yards on 3 catches and the touchdown. Guyton has cut down on the drops so far this season as well, as he has only been accredited 2 drops this season as compared to 6 drops last season per PFF.com. Ever since getting the Guilty As Charged Podcast bump, Guyton has made impact plays in each of the past two weeks. These included wins in which he would have a touchdown against the Bengals and Giants.
Honorable Mentions:
Michael Davis, Chris Harris Jr., Matt Feiler
Photos: Bolts Celebrate Win Over Giants – Ty Nowell