After a 4-1 start, the Chargers have dropped back-to-back games against AFC contenders.
They were grounded by the Ravens in Week 6, and on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium, the Chargers passing game couldn’t get anything going against the Patriots secondary. Justin Herbert went 18-of-35 for 223 yards, threw two touchdowns, two interceptions, and posted a passer rating of 66.7, the second-lowest mark of his career.
At times, the young standout looked completely bewildered.
Still, Keenan Allen was unimpressed by the Patriots defense. Asked about Sunday’s loss, the wide receiver threw some shade New England’s way.
“I thought the Ravens did a damn good job,” Allen told reporters after the 27-24 defeat. “(Against the Patriots), it was all us. I didn’t see anything that they did that we couldn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t think any of it was anything. We thought it was going to be man (coverage). They’ve been running man on film. They came out, it was zone. We knew they were going to do that because they can’t cover us, and that’s what they did… We shouldn’t have lost, for sure. We (shot) ourselves in the foot. Turnovers, penalties, drops — you name it, we did it.”
Allen finished with six catches for 77 yards, but most of that came on a 41-yard chunk play on the first drive of the game. His fellow starting wide receiver, Mike Williams, only caught two passes for 19 yards. Regardless, Allen reiterated the loss was more about the Chargers than New England.
“I don’t think they did anything that stopped us,” said Allen. “(Adrian Phillips) had a couple good plays on the interceptions. One was a tip, the other was a missed throw. Other than that, it was penalties and us. I don’t think they did anything.”
For what it’s worth, though Allen said the Chargers knew the Patriots were going to play zone against them, Herbert admitted it was a surprise.
“We saw a lot of Cover 2. That was just one of those things that they did not show all year. That is one of those gameplan things where you go into the game, see and address at halftime,” Herbert said. “(It was) a lot of disguise. We were expecting a lot of man (coverage), but did not get a whole lot of that today.”
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