WINNERS OF THE CHARGERS VS CARDINALS

   Could have cooked a hot turnover in the Arizona sun yesterday. The game was played indoors however in Glendale at the University of Arizona stadium. The Chargers still provided hot turnovers for those in attendance. A game mostly filled with mistakes that is expected in a preseason game #1. The Cardinals came out on top 24-17 in the exhibition game.

 The Chargers defense started out slow giving up a opening drive touchdown in a 45 yard drive. They recovered well afterwards giving up a total of 43 yards and 0 touchdowns.

   For the Chargers it's about the younger guys getting a glance at what a real NFL game feels like. Kyzir White, Derwin James and Uchenna Nwosu played well with the 2nd string defense. Nwosu finished with 2 tackles, a sack and 2 QB hits. He wins rookie of the night award. Here is who I think won and lost in last night practice game.

WINNERS!

1. RB Austin Ekeler
  Ekeler proved he is not a one year wonder. He has a solid lock as the #2 RB on the 53 man roster behind Melvin Gordon. Melvin ran for 16 yards in 5 carries. Ekeler kept up with him with 5 carries and 22 yards. He led the RB unit in yards and yards per carry. Most importantly he didn't fumble the ball. The coaching staff should have been impressed with the RB rotation and the performance they delivered.

2. WR Geremy Davis
   I've been told the Chargers are likely to carry 6 WR's this year on the roster. Allen, Tyrell, Mike Williams and Travis Benjamin are the first four. Dylan Cantrell is going to be #5 on that list. That leaves 1 open slot from the WR group. Geremy Davis and Artavis Scott are the main competition for that spot. The others like Nelson Spruce, JJ Jones, Marcus Peterson, Andre Patton and Justice Liggins are mostly just hanging around until the roster cuts come and to provide bodies for the final preseason game vs the 49ERS.

   Scott and Davis will have to create seperation from the other and the most likely place to do so is on special teams. Scott got the call in last night game taking 2 kickoff returns for 23 yards. He also had 3 punt returns. But it was Geremy Davis that might have created a little separation with a talented 47 yard touchdown catch from Geno Smith. Geremy finished the night with 4 catches for 88 yards and a TD. Scott had 5 catches for 44 yards. This was round one in the battle for the 6th wide receiver spot. I'll give a slight edge to Davis for the opening round but Scott is right on his heels.

3. QB Geno Smith
   Neither QB played like Aaron Rodgers behind Brett Favre but a winner must be chosen. Between Cardale Jones and Geno Smith the winner is perfectly clear to start this race between the two to be Philip Rivers backup on the final 53 man roster. Cardale Jones is the younger and has been said has more potential long term. The thing is he has never developed any of those potential into improving his play on the field. Geno Smith went 14 for 23 for 218 yards including a 47 yard touchdown to Geremy Davis and 1 INT.. Cardale Jones was 6 for 12 for 50 yards including a fumble. Jones was sacked and finished with a QB rating of 61.1%. Jones is showing no signs of improvement over 2017 preseason where his stats were 36-61 with 343 yards passing and 0 TD. He had 3 INT and was sacked 8 times. Cardale has never start an NFL game in his career and likely won't ever. Geno Smith has started 31 times and threw for 6,174 yards in his 5 year career.

4. Uchenna Nwosu ROOKIE OF THE NIGHT
   Nwosu played for the 2nd string defense as mentioned above with Derwin James and Kyzir White. Uchenna was told before the draft if he was there in the 2nd round they were going to select him. He displayed why last night. He finished with 2 tackles, sack and 2 QB hits. In his first game as a Charger he did exactly what the coaches expected him to do.

5. DB Brandon Facyson
   The 6'2 defensive back took his impressive play from the practice field to the field in Arizona getting an interception for the Chargers. Facyson signed a 3 year deal with the Chargers as an undrafted DB from Virginia Tech is competing for the final DB spot on the roster with veteran Craig Mager.

THE LOSERS!!!

QB Cardale Jones
   Jones displayed the same QB play he showed last year. The developmental QB is not developing at all. Cardale doesn't look comfortable and showed nothing to get excited about. Last year, Cardale threw 36-61 with 343 yards passing. He has 0 TD with 3 INT, 8 sacks and a QB rating of 54.2%. Last night he was 6-12 for 50 yards and 0 Td's. He also took a sack and fumbled the ball. Cardale tenure with the Chargers is likely to end when the final roster cuts are made and a veteran like Geno Smith and his 30 career starts hovering over him.

The Tight Ends
   If Antonio Gates was watching the game last night he probably called his agent Tom Condon afterwards. The asking price for his service just went up. No unit played worse than the TE unit. They were targeted 7 times and dropped 5 balls. Coach Lynn didn't sound to happy with their performance after the game. Charger fans who love Gates got their Christmas wish early in Arizona.

K Caleb Sturgis
   The job no one seems to want. Training camp did nothing to give any separation between Caleb Sturgis and Roberto Aguayo. Aguayo took to playing extra point plays last night and completed both of the. Sturgis was 1-2 on field goals. Sturgis will be the starting field goal kicker in Week 1 vs the Chiefs in Carson. Only because of the contract and guaranteed money that is giving to him in the contract. The woes continue for the Chargers to begin the preseason as often as it plagued them in 2017.

Special Teams
  I'm not even going to get into it. The kickoff coverage that has kept this unit ranked near the bottom of the NFL for a couple of years now. I saw nothing last night that would change that ranking much. George Stewart the special teams coach brought here by Anthony Lynn has given no signs of improving any time soon.

                                                               NEXT GAME
 Overall, the Chargers played a typical sloppy and error filled preseason game. Sam Tevi reported a leg injury but other than that the team escaped Arizona pretty healthy for the most part. Next up is the Seattle Seahawks on national TV with the NFL Network covering the game Saturday night from Carson at 7pm.