Running-back JK Dobbins ran 29 yards and then he flies into the endzone to score a touchdown against the Bengals a few weeks ago at SoFi. Unfortunately, Dobbins injured his knee last Monday night and will not play against the Falcons this Sunday.
The Los Angeles Chargers have done a magnificent job this season of winning games with a physical brand of football, playing tough defense, running the football and playing well on special teams. But there are teams that also want to play that way and have more talent than the Chargers. One of those teams is the Baltimore Ravens.
Last Monday Night at SoFI Stadium in Inglewood, the Ravens defeated the Chargers 30-23, ending their four-game winning streak. The loss dropped the Chargers to 7-4 on the season, while the Ravens improved to 8-4. The win moves the Ravens into the 5th playoff spot in the seven-team AFC playoff standings, with the Chargers at 6th and the Denver Broncos in 7th at 7-5.
The game was a matchup between two of the best coaches in football, who also happen to be brothers. John Harbaugh is the head coach of the Ravens and Jim Harbaugh is the head coach of the Chargers. John is now 3-0 versus his brother in the NFL, having last beat him in Super Bowl 47 at the end of the 2012 season.
The Chargers took the opening offensive drive of the game and drove 70 yards in 9 plays, with the drive culminating with a five-yard quarterback scramble from Justin Herbert for a touchdown. The Chargers added a 42-yard field goal from the leg of kicker Cameron Dicker to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The game turned on two key plays. The first occurred in the second quarter with the Chargers holding a 10-7 lead over the Ravens at the two-minute warning. The Ravens were facing a 4th-and1 for their offense from their own 16-yard line. Normally, a team would play it safe and punt. The Ravens made the unusual decision to go for it, which would have given the Chargers terrific field position for a chip shot field goal or a touchdown.
The gamble paid off. The Ravens picked up a first down on a two-yard dive up the middle by tight end Mark Andrews. That first down led to a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson to wide receiver Rashod Bateman with 24 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Ravens a 14-10 lead, a lead they never gave back.
The second turning point in the game came early in the fourth quarter. With the Ravens leading 23-16 and having scored on four consecutive offensive possessions, the game felt like it was beginning to get away from the Chargers. On a 3rd-and-6 from their own 34-yard line, wide receiver Quentin Johnston ran a crossing route from left to right and was wide-open.
Herbert threw a perfect pass to Johnston, and he simply dropped it. Johnston, had he caught the ball, would have easily picked up the first down and had a decent chance at taking it all the way for a touchdown. The Chargers were forced to punt and the Ravens followed up with another score, this one a 51-yard touchdown run from running back Justice Hill. That extended the Ravens lead to 30-16 with 7:24 remaining in the game. The Chargers scored a touchdown in garbage time with 46 seconds left to get to the make final score of 30-23.
That dropped pass by Johnston seemed to deflate the energy of the crowd and the team. Johnston followed that key drop with two additional drops, ending the game with zero receptions on five targets. Johnston was a first-round draft pick from TCU in 2023 and has had a history of concentration drops from his days at TCU to his rookie season with Chargers. He had been playing better this season under wide receiver coach Sanjay Lal.
John Harbaugh spoke about the Chargers and his brother after the game. "You kind of live these things close to your heart, and these are just huge battles. Huge battles every week in this league and going against a team that is this well-coached, by all of their coaches and by my brother, Jim the best coach in the National Football League – what he's done with that team and how hard they play, and what they did, hats off to them, because they're going to win a lot more football games this year, and they're going to be a major factor in the playoffs."
Jim Harbaugh shared some comments after the game last Monday night. "We'll regroup. They played better football than we did tonight but, more importantly, we know what kind of team we are and what we're capable of and regroup." When asked what he said to his brother after the game, Harbaugh said, "We said the same thing. I congratulated him on the victory and [said], 'Love you.'"
The Chargers will need to regroup without star running back J.K. Dobbins, who injured his knee in the second quarter of the Ravens game. He will miss the upcoming Atlanta Falcons game in Atlanta this Sunday, December 1. The game will start at 10:00 a.m. locally and will be televised on KCBS Channel 2.
The Falcons are 6-5 on the season and in first place in the NFC South. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is 5th in the NFL in passing yardage with 2,807 yards. He has an excellent group of receivers, starting with former USC star Drake London, who leads the Falcons with 61 receptions and six touchdown receptions.
The Chargers lead the NFL in least number of giveaways with just five. Herbert has thrown just one interception this season in 11 games. Herbert has thrown 281 consecutive passes without an interception. The Chargers need to create more turnovers on defense. They have not created a turnover in the past three games. The Chargers will need to create turnovers on defense in order to win what should be a tough road game in Atlanta.
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