The Chargers survived the pesky Broncos on Sunday afternoon to move to 3-0 in the season. In a game where the offense and special teams were in shambles for stretches, the defense stepped up and gave them a chance to win all the way until the end. Thankfully, the offense and special teams were “at their best when their best was needed” to quote head coach Jim Harbaugh, and it ended up being exactly that: what they needed to win 23-20 over a divisional foe.
That said, let’s go ahead and dive into the
best and worst grades given to the Chargers from Pro Football Focus this week!
Offense
Best (min. 20 snaps)
TE Oronde Gadsden II – 84.0
OT Joe Alt – 80.0
QB Justin Herbert – 74.1
WR KeenanAllen – 72.1
WR Quentin Johnston – 71.4
Shoutout to Gadsden. In his first professional game, he hauled in more passes (5) than the entire position group COMBINED (4) through the first two games. He looked stellar and the moment was seemingly nothing to him. He should get more snaps going forward if Will Dissly needs more time to recover from the injury that kept him out of Week Three.
Joe Alt was beat for his first sack of the season on Sunday but that wasn’t enough to stop him from being the team’s best blocker against Denver.
The trio of Herbert, Allen, and Johnston unsurprisingly makes the top five as their combined efforts were the difference down the final stretch of the game.
Worst
TE Tyler Conklin – 39.8
OG Mekhi Becton – 42.8
RT Trey Pipkins – 43.0
TE/FB Tucker Fisk – 48.3
RG Jamaree Salyer – 48.4
Conklin continues to start his time in powder blue on a rough streak. He got his butt handed to him by Maxx Crosby a week ago and this week it was a bad case of the drops.
Becton was beat early and often against the Broncos before he left the game with a concussion. His replacement in Salyer did not fare much better. Same goes for Pipkins. Their pass block grades on the day were 36.1, 26.5, and 41.6, respectively.
Defense
Best
LB Troy Dye – 82.9
CB Benjamin St-Juste – 78.3
DT Teair Tart – 78.0
EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu – 75.0
S Derwin James – 72.1
Another shoutout to Benjamin St-Juste who put together a strong performance with Cam Hart sidelined due to a hip injury. Same with Troy Dye filling in for Denzel Perryman. Both stood out when they needed to step up for their team.
It’s honestly WILD that James was only the fifth highest-graded player for the Chargers defense. He had 12 tackles, four tackles for loss, and a sack against Denver. He balled out in a big way and he probably deserved a higher grade than this.
Worst
CB Donte Jackson – 29.5
S Alohi Gilman – 29.6
EDGE Caleb Murphy – 36.6
CB Tarheeb Still – 52.2
LB Daiyan Henley – 54.8
This was a weird day for most of these players. Basically everyone but Murphy has played enough games to make this next fact notable, but all of them played either their worst, second-worst, or third-worst game of their careers, per PFF.
Henley’s tackling grade of 34.1 was hit hardest by his missed tackle on J.K. Dobbins near the sideline before the Broncos back tip-toed all the way to the end zone. Otherwise, his day was solid.
In regards to tackling, all four defenders outside Murphy posted one of the team’s five worst grades in that category. Just overall a rough day in consistently bringing people down.
