The Los Angeles Chargers put together as embarrassing of a first half as you could imagine against the New England Patriots on Sunday, and the critical mistakes started very early on in the game.
The Patriots held the ball for more than seven minutes on their opening possession and capped the drive off with a touchdown. Los Angeles helped them get into the end zone with a pass interference penalty on 3rd down that placed the ball at the 1-yard line. Sony Michel plunged into the end zone on the next play, and it probably helped that he only had to go against 10 defenders.
10 guys on the field for the Chargers on that touchdown. pic.twitter.com/xCUC67OOLl
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 13, 2019
In addition to having 10 men on the field on that touchdown run, the Chargers also committed two delay of game penalties in the first half. Those are among the reasons they went into the locker room trailing 35-7.
Ironically, the Chargers benefitted from some inexcusable mistakes in their win over the Baltimore Ravens last week. The team that is on the wrong side of plays like that typically does not come out on top.
