The offensive success in the first half was the clearest illustration of how overblown the national criticism of Greg Roman has been in years previously and how misplaced the skepticism has been by Charger fans. As the season has gone on the discourse around the offense has moved on from falling short of being successful to becoming inconsistently explosive. This can be tied back to one component; Justin Herbert, or more specifically, his confidence. 

Anyone who knows my writing knows I don't like to dwell on intangibles as I leave that guesswork to the seemingly unending supply of talking heads available at any hour on any network. However what Jim Harbaugh has conjured up is something the football world has never seen before; a former president of the Sheldon high school fishing club who believes he is the best player on the field.

This surge in confidence that Harbaugh has very deliberately stoked, has spread to both Greg Roman. Whether this was willingly or by osmosis, it has happened because since the Week 6 bye the typical Roman ground attack has transformed itself to a play action vertical passing scheme. This new found assertiveness is both the reason for the 1st half success and for the 2nd half struggles, both Herbert and Roman were feeling themselves and whilst it cost the team a 21 point lead, it ultimately won them the game.

The plan of attack was clear from early on in this game. The first drive of three straight runs was to test the Bengals’ box count and from that Roman knew how he was going to beat them. Lou Anarumu wanted to counter the Chargers’ tight formations in both 11 and 12 personnel with an odd front out of base and he opted to keep a lid on this with Cover 3 and Quarters coverages. This is the look the offense was faced with on the first touchdown.

I screamed when I saw this on broadcast but the endzone angle of Herbert's first touchdown throw to Will Dissly is even better. I cannot state enough just how good this throw is. To throw the ball low enough to beat the outside corner yet hard enough to beat the free safety and high enough to beat the dropping linebacker is insanely difficult. Scheme wise this was brilliant too, it’s not rocket science to attack Cover 3 with 4-verts but to do it from 13 personnel is a really nice touch. By going into this heavy look on 1st down, Greg ensured that the Bengals would answer with base coverage as they didn’t want to allow for a full playbook call on second down. One thing to note is that motion is always used even if it’s a small shift here to give Justin the visual confirmation he needs to know this is going to be a zone coverage call. 

This was just the beginning though. Roman, Herbert and the receiving corps had their way with the Bengals zone defense by using a lot of play action and two man route concepts off the back of dragging the heavy box front down towards the line of scrimmage.

Roman was almost being arrogant here in a very good way. He essentially said 'I know you're in zone and I know how you'll play this'. He ran a play action 2-man concept and both routes were wide open despite 7 defenders dropping into coverage. Another ridiculous throw but the best thing about this for me was that Herbert took the harder option for more yards. That is something he never would have done. As Jack from The Thunder Down Under Podcast points out; Harbaugh’s constant gushing over him is more than just admiration. It is a deliberate attempt to bolster his confidence to make the most out of Roman's scheme. His arm is talented enough and always has been, it was about unlocking his mind.

Through Herbert’s increased self belief comes the attitude to push smaller details to unlock bigger concepts.On the touchdown play to Quentin Johnston  it was clear to me that Herbert brought himself some time by drifting his boot shape right up to the limits behind Alt who was guarding Hubbard who was in a pocket contain role. He did this to buy time as he wanted this to be a touchdown rather than a first down. 

This is something he has developed under Roman/Harbaugh as in previous seasons he has rushed these looks because he was worried about being hit or having a faster clock due to the failings of the protection. The pass blocking has improved (find stats) but not to the degree where it alone would change how he approaches the game. Herbert has always been brave but it was his lack of belief that meant he'd take the early out, his belief in himself and his belief in his defense. 

That's what a team built by someone who knows what they're doing curates; it gives each unit the confidence to be brave in their role knowing if you did take a chance the team wouldn't crumble if you came up short. 

This play design was also great, Roman noted that the flats defender had continued to stay low on the pass to Dissly two plays earlier so Hebert was confident that this double leak route concept would break the Bengals very rigid cover 3 rules. Even the hard play action sold by Matlock sift blocking held the linebackers which forced Cam Taylor-Britt to squeeze on Palmer's post route. It all tied together with a confident late throw for what looked like an easy score.

The play above illustrates the key aspect of why the passing game was finding consistent margins. This route should not be open vs cover 2, the fact that it is, tells me that Roman knew their zone rules through film study and this allowed them to protect the sidelines down low as the Bengals play true zones with strict parameters. Before Half Time the Chargers’ offense could do what they wanted on plays like this however from the first snap of the third quarter you could see what the Bengals did differently.

Lou Anarumu switched things up by playing more man and two high zone to counter the Chargers’ two route concepts that were torturing the Bengals single high zone game plan. The play below was the exact same concept as the second video in this article but this time the Bengals dropped deep enough to make this tough. Lou also had his linebackers get proper depth and stop Herbert from being able to find the sideline holes or dig windows. The adjustments should have been to run the ball more and attack the flats but it didn't seem like this was something Roman or Herbert were willing to do. This hot hand foul meant that drives were fizzling out before they could even get started.

This is the first time I've ever written this but Herbert's fault in the second half was that he was a bit too aggressive. He often passed up the throws that could have kept the offense on schedule in favor of taking the deep shots that had been consistently open in the first half.

Roman didn't change his concepts to match the Bengals adjustments which tells me that he and Herbert agreed that he could beat the zone droppers and find the man coverage windows. To me this was still a mistake, it's easy for me to say whilst watching from my sofa but our offense needs to be able to dial up and down on their levels of aggression with a bit more flexibility that they have shown so far this season. 

On these drives where nothing was landing Justin needed to be able to bring the run game into consideration by taking the underneath stuff and living to get closer to the sticks. As fans we can say in a vacuum “they should have run the ball more” but when the Bengals are stacking the box on first down, you need to throw the ball. That leaves second and long but this is where more runs could have worked against a lighter box. 

2nd down was where the mistakes were made and it cost the team by leaving them in 3rd and long. This receiver group is good, better than most people predicted, but they are not good enough to win in isolation in these high pressure down and distances especially when mistakes creep into the game like we saw from both Herbert and his pass catchers.

Roman was stuck in a bind here, his offense couldn't line up in spread, that's not who they are so when the Bengals managed to use both heavy boxes and two high shells, the Chargers struggled to think of ways to capitalize on the new areas of weakness; the sidelines. He could have used motion to lighten the box or at least run proper release routes from the tight ends but with Fisk and Matlock on the field you're essentially losing two pass catching options. The play action was working from these heavier sets when the Bengals actually thought you were going to run the ball but without that established, they could just sit off of it and tell your big guys to win against man coverage.

The Bengals shift to man coverage was a predictable answer however on this play Ladd shows why he is the antidote to any team daring to play him in a straight man match up. The league’s newest explosive slot receiver will beat your apex defenders 9 times out of 10. Herbert didn't see when he shook his man out of his boots two plays earlier but he didn't make the same mistake here and found him for a badly needed play on 3rd and long.

This route by Ladd is utter filth, my goodness this would have thrown off even the best corners. The twitch he shows here is elite level already with a savvy ability to generate burst out of a full turn which is what the best slot receivers in history have been able to do. It’s early but his fit in Roman’s tight formation scheme is looking like a fantastic alignment of skills.

In general the lack of counter-adjustments are why the offense has struggled in the second half all season. Halftime adjustments made by opposing defenses checking the blue pad have resulted in teams landing on the same conclusion that the Bengals did and there are teams ahead on the schedule that won’t have to rely on mid game adjustments to get into these looks as they are already a big part of their schemes. Ladd seems to be the answer to how teams like the Chiefs will look to use man coverage to defend against Roman’s new pass heavy offense but Roman will have to keep being creative to get him the free releases he will need to best Trent McDuffie.

Luckily for the Bolts, endgame theory came into play and Lou made a big mistake when he saw the light at the end of a 21 point deficit. He resorted back to single high zone as he didn’t have the courage or conviction to play man coverage with 45 seconds left on the clock. The result spoke for itself as Justin Herbert won the game in two throws, both to the electric man coverage antidote that is Ladd McConkey. Greg Roman absolutely cooked with these route combinations when they finally opened up for him as an option. He deserves his flowers for having the stones to stay the course even after an entire half of it not working. 

The good news is that I truly believe that the lack of second half success combined with the ultimate game winning drive would have been the perfectly balanced reality check that Herbert and Roman need to push the offense into another gear heading into a tough Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens in a couple of days time. It appears harsh enough that they don’t blindly stay the course of deep shots no matter what but the marquee game winning drive would have ensured the confidence that Harbaugh has instilled into his quarterback wouldn’t have been dented too much.

I have been a strong advocate of the offense that Harbaugh, Roman and Herbert are building as the bones are very much there to see on tape. They are building with a long term view and whilst they are ahead of schedule they have by no means panicked and started to lose their identity. On the surface it may have seem like smash mouth power football was their brand but in reality their target is an actual balanced offense that can vary tempo in a way that excites me. We've seen both dominant run displays, explosive passing games and a balance of both. All that's left is to find that second half consistency and I trust Herbert's new found confidence to meld with his even mannered nature to start to become a star no matter what the opposition do to stop him.

StormCloud's been waitin' all day for Sunday Night, and here it is.

We are less than an hour away from the second time Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have faced off against each other. Anytime the quarterbacks of the 2020 class face each other it's bound to be a high-drama affair, as many debates have raged on as to how these quarterbacks would be ranked if they were to be re-drafted today.

So far, Burrow has lost to the Chargers twice, the first loss coming in his first game in the NFL against the Chargers' Tyrod Taylor. Justin Herbert was his opponent in the next showdown, and it was a Herbie masterpiece as he led the Chargers to an impressive 41-22 victory in Paul Brown Stadium.

The Chargers are a much different team this year, with a much different offensive and defensive mentality. Rather than trying to hang 40+ on the Bengals, the Chargers would be ecstatic to score more than 24, and keep their opponent once again to a total of less than 20 points. The defense has been suffocating offenses all season, but Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins are sure to give them their biggest test of the year.

Let's get to the inactives:

DJ Chark is alarmingly on the inactives list again after only taking on snap against the TItans. Vidal will be sidelined again - which is less concerning than when this news broke last week, but still a disappointment as he brings such an explosive element to the running back room. Hayden Hurst is out again, but the biggest disappoint is the absence of Khalil Mack. However, this staff prepared for such an event by bringing in veteran depth in the offseason; this is why a piece like Bud Dupree is so important to this roster.

The Bengals offensive line is struggling at the Tackle position, so this is the week for Joey Bosa, Tuli Tuipulotu, and Dupree to feast. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are on a two-wave wavelength with each other as plays go on and find gaps in zone defenses like no other pair in the league, so the quicker the pass rush can get home the better chance the Bolts have.

Get the chatter going, StormCloud. Let's have a helluva game, and a time in the comments below!

The Chargers head into their toughest five-game stretch of the season with the wind at their back, and the team getting healthier and playing better each week. As the team prepares to run through this gauntlet, a few questions remained unanswered that drive some interesting storylines through the rest of the season.

How will Jim Harbaugh handle the return of Trey Pipkins, Asante Samuel Jr?

Football is a dangerous sport, and injuries are a part of the game. Many coaches believe a player's "job" should be waiting for them post-injury, when they're able to get back in the action, even if their reserve filled in admirably. Charger fans saw this mindset firsthand in 2020. When Tyrod Taylor suffered a punctured lung from a pre-game rib injection, Anthony Lynn reiterated multiple times that Taylor was still the team's starter despite Justin Herbert's exceptional job filling in. It took three games for Lynn to acknowledge that the team would be shifting to Justin for the remainder of the season.

Although Asante Samuel Jr is a solid ball-hawking cornerback, he's hardly been missed during his IR stint thanks to the amazing play of both Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still. Hart has been a physical presence, regularly jarring would-be completions loose and even forcing the occasional fumble, while Still has shown exceptional ball skills and inside/outside coverage ability as well.

Trey Pipkins is another interesting case. Pipkins is a career offensive tackle, pushed into a transition to guard after Joe Hortiz drafted generational prospect Joe Alt. He hasn't shown the strength to hold up in the interior, and the line has been allowing inside pressure fairly consistently all the season. The Chargers faced a legitimate defensive front last Sunday, and the offensive line played by far their best game, but did so with Jamaree Salyer filling in for the injured Pipkins. Salyer has the functional strength and anchor necessary for a guard, and projects to have a better career than Pipkins on the inside despite also being a converted tackle.

How will Jim handle both of these injuries? Both players have been seeminglyout performed by their reserves, but does Jim believe in the old adage that players shouldn't be replaced once they've returned from injury?

There's one pretty significant example that my indicate where Jim leans. Harbaugh was the coach of the 2012 San Francisco 49ers when Alex Smith led them to a 6-2 start before going down with a concussion in Week 10. Colin Kaepernick filled in as a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, winning a few more games for the 49ers before Harbaugh was forced to decide between the two. Jim said he would ride the "hot hand" of Kaepernick, and the 49ers ended their season 11-4-1 and lost to John Harbaugh's Ravens in the Super Bowl.

The sample size may be too small to remove Pipkins in favor of Salyer if Trey can return to play this week, but if he's sidelined for another Sunday and Salyer has another excellent showing, Pipkins would very likely be sliding back into a depth position.

Samuel Jr's availability is murky, as Harbaugh has been especially vague about his shoulder injury, referencing whether Asante would play again this season as a "family decision." Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still have earned the starting job whether Zont returns to action or not, but there also may be some tension between Zont and the coaching staff behind closed doors.

Will Gus Edwards keep Kimani Vidal shelved?

Gus Edwards came back with a vengeance, showing more explosiveness and power than he's displayed thus far in a Chargers uniform. To the untrained eye, his recent performance begs the question of whether he was healthy and should have been playing early in the season.

With J.K. Dobbins staying healthy and playing better than expected, and Hassan Haskins serving as a sneaky goal line specialist and special teams demon, Kimani Vidal is the odd-man out. The team has yet to carry four running backs in a game (fullback/defensive tackle hybrids not included), but Vidal has shown enough flashes of ability to justify the team's consideration. He's likely the best receiving threat of the group, and he seems like a player eagerly waiting his opportunity to break out.

Can the offense sustain without a true redzone threat?

The offense has done an amazing job of protecting the football, but early in the season they had many drives stalling once they entered the redzone. The receivers have begun to develop their roles in the offense, but there still isn't a clear red zone threat amongst them or any of the tight ends.

There have been some spectacular scoring plays, with everyone chipping in to get the job done, but Herbert is still clearly lacking a go-to big-bodied guy for this role.

The touchdown to Ladd McConkey is a great example. Herbert play-actioned and went through every read before landing on a covered Ladd, but an absolute bullet of a pass an amazing back-of-the-endzone grab gave the team six points.

Most of Quentin Johnston's touchdowns have been explosive deep balls, but against the Titans he earned himself a redzone score. This one appeared to be a scheme-win, as Kenneth Murray was left chasing a receiver, yielding an unsurprising result.

Likely the most telling of all - when Jim gave Greg Roman the green light on 4th and 1 from the four yard-line, Roman didn't cook up a play to a preferred target or even use a dominant receiver as a decoy to draw coverage away from someone else. He just gave Justin the ball on a QB Power and told him to get it done himself.

Can Justin Herbert can keep willing this team into the endzone, complimented by the dynamic rush attack of Dobbins and Edwards, or will this team's ceiling will be limited due to the absence of a true redzone threat?

What do you think, StormCloud? What questions do you have headed into Week 11?

https://x.com/chargers/status/1856830415346204912

Only Hayden Hurst and Khalil Mack were kept out of practice, but it has been fairly standard for Mack to take Wesnesday as a rest day. Mack is an athlete that can sit out the whole week, take care of his body his way, and play effectively on Sunday if he needs to... so it'll be tough to gauge how much of a problem that groin is giving him until game day.

For the Bengals, Orlando Brown Jr has had trouble returning to the field, and B.J. Hill, Joe Bachie, and Charlie Jones all sat our yesterday has well. 

Feel free to post Thursday's report below if you beat me to it!

Up until this point, the Chargers have had one of the weakest schedules in the league. This wouldn't mean much for earlier iterations of the Bolts, as they made a reputation for themselves as a team that frequently played down to the level of their competition and frequently fell victim to "trap games" and underdog victories, but Jim Harbaugh made a point of doing away with the "Chargering" verb in the offseason, and has so far made good on that vision. His squad has beaten (most) of the teams they should beat, and competed vigorously against some of the NFL's team top teams. Now, they set out to survive a 5-game gauntlet featuring premiere talent with very little room for reprieve between these hurdles.

Week One of this stretch starts at home, with Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals preparing to face off against Justin Herbert's Chargers in the Sunday Night lights. The Bengals have been on an absolute tear on offense lately, so the obvious storyline will be whether or not Jesse Minter's NFL-leading scoring defense can continue to slow the game down and keep the point totals low. Although Justin Herbert has certainly been in his fair share of offensive shootouts and has the skills to come out on top in such a scenario, Jim Harbaugh's first goal has to be to control the game and focus on the Bengals adjusting to the Chargers game speed, and not requiring Justin Herbert to play catch-up with a downfield aerial attack, led by the Burrow-Ja'Marr Chase connection.

The Bengals have not been strong defensively, falling to a 4-6 record despite some incredible offensive performances. They've managed to score an average of 38 points in their last two games, but only went 1-1 in that short span. The only teams they have held to less than 20 points are the Patriots, Giants, and Browns. A very key element of this game will succeeding on the ground with not just one running back, but with both. Look for Gus Edwards to build off a very productive, punishing performance against the Titans on Sunday, and for J.K. Dobbins to gain some explosives when the offensive line has the defensive front on their heels. This is a game where Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh's vision of dictating the pace of the game with a balanced running attack, and allowing it to open some chunk gains downfield off play action.

StormCloud, sound off in the comments any general observations or thoughts you have about this game in the comments below!