The San Diego Chargers are playing some of their best football right now. The New York Jets are not. We saw both in the Chargers big 31-0 win over the Jets on Sunday, bringing their record to 4-1. Here's what we learned from another victory for San Diego over an overmatched New York Jets.
Jets vs. Chargers final score: Three things we learned from a 31-0 Chargers win
Philip Rivers and the Chargers annihilated a reeling Jets squad 31-0 The Jets benched quarterback Geno Smith mid-game for Michael Vick, but couldn’t find a way to score (or cross midfield).
Stephen Dunn
1. San Diego’s offense is one of the league’s best.
The Chargers scored first and scored often, beginning with an eight-yard touchdown to tight end Antonio Gates (who caught another touchdown midway through the second quarter). The sometimes in-flux offensive line has held up well so far this season, giving quarterback Philip Rivers ample time to find his receivers downfield. Receiver Eddie Royal had a big day, picking up yards and taking advantage of the Jets secondary. Despite an injury to running back Donald Brown, the Chargers were able to run the ball as well. Branden Oliver ran into the end zone for the Chargers' third touchdown of the first half - against what was the top-ranked rushing defense in the NFL.
2. The New York Jets are in shambles. And are atrocious.
The play clocks weren't the only thing malfunctioning in San Diego - the Jets offense had no response to the Chargers. Geno Smith was under constant pressure, unable to see his receivers or make any throws on time. His receivers couldn't get into space, and stupid mistakes cost the Jets on big plays. Case in point: the Jets got their first interception of the season, breaking Rivers' streak of 128 consecutive passes without getting picked off.The first play from scrimmage after the interception, running back Chris Johnson fumbled the ball right back to San Diego.
Here’s how bad it got for New York’s offense:
- The longest play of the first half for the Jets was five plays long.
- The Jets’ first half offense: punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, interception.
- The Jets did not cross midfield until midway through the fourth quarter.
- The Jets had 62 yards passing.
Geno Smith's QB rating in the first half: 7.6... Philip Rivers' is 128.7 #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) October 5, 2014 The Jets defense wasn’t much better, allowing the Chargers to move the ball easily (the Chargers had 438 yards of offense to the Jets 113). In the second half, the Jets regrouped momentarily to finally get some pressure on Rivers in the pocket and force the Chargers to punt on their first possession, only to allow San Diego to score on their second possession - another touchdown for Branden Oliver after a 90-yard drive to make it 28-0 Chargers.
The Jets eventually benched Geno Smith for Michael Vick, but Vick couldn’t make anything happen until deep into the 4th quarter when Vick got the Jets into the red zone. He then threw a touchdown pass - after he crossed the line of scrimmage.
The touchdown was disallowed and backup Chargers quarterback Kellen Clemens got the ball back after New York failed to convert on fourth-and-goal.
3. This Chargers team is for real.
After a tough loss against the Arizona Cardinals, San Diego reeled off big wins over the Seahawks, Bills and Jaguars before beating the Jets at home. They'll have a relatively easy away game at Oakland before welcoming Kansas City and visiting Denver and Miami, but there's a real chance that the Chargers could keep the top spot in the AFC West well into December.
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