Chargers’ loss to Cardinals was about far more than late-game officiating

GLENDALE, Ariz. — To focus on the officiating would be missing the point.

The Los Angeles Chargers should have never been in this position Monday night. The opportunities they squandered offensively in a 17-15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals allowed two late calls to impact the result.

The Chargers amassed 395 yards of offense. Justin Herbert threw for 349 yards, his most in a game in more than a calendar year. The Chargers did not score a touchdown.

Herbert is just the fourth quarterback since 2000 to throw for more than 340 yards in a loss in which the team did not score a touchdown, according to TruMedia. It last happened in 2018.

“You got to score touchdowns,” said center Bradley Bozeman.

The Chargers built their coaching staff and roster to dominate a game like this. The Cardinals entered Monday night with one of the worst run defenses in football. They had given up at least 130 yards in five of their six games before facing the Chargers. The Green Bay Packers hung 179 rushing yards on this defense last week. The Washington Commanders went for 216 in Week 4. The Detroit Lions put up 187 in Week 3.

In the offseason, the Chargers moved on from their top two receivers in Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. They took an offensive tackle with the No. 5 pick. They brought in Greg Roman to call plays and engineer the rushing attack. They talked about imposing their will and winning at the line of scrimmage.

On Monday night, against a bad run defense, they managed just 51 yards on 20 designed rushes.

“Kept waiting for the running game to pop,” coach Jim Harbaugh said, “but we weren’t able to.”

And so the offensive production fell on Herbert’s shoulders. Really, his right arm.

He met the challenge in spectacular fashion.

The Chargers, however, did not have the playmakers to complete what should have been an all-time performance. They were down several pass-catchers. Receivers Quentin Johnston (ankle) and Derius Davis (hamstring) and tight end Hayden Hurst were inactive. Receiver DJ Chark (groin) was not ready to return from injured reserve.

That left Ladd McConkey, Simi Fehoko, Joshua Palmer, Will Dissly, Jalen Reagor, Stone Smartt and Brenden Rice.

The group made some plays. Dissly had a career-high eight catches. Palmer made two outstanding catches on a two-minute field goal drive at the end of the first half. McConkey had an explosive reception on a sharp in-breaking route on the go-ahead field goal drive in the fourth quarter.

But the zero-touchdown game was really caused by the plays that were not made.

On the opening offensive drive of the game, Herbert connected with Reagor on a 42-yard completion. Reagor fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone, turning it over.

Another crazy turn of events in Arizona!

A potential Chargers TD turns into a fumble into the end zone

📺: #LACvsAZ on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/3l0XuKKkHz

— NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2024

Fehoko dropped a back shoulder throw on a second down on the Chargers’ second offensive drive. The Chargers settled for a 59-yard field from Cameron Dicker two plays later. That was a career long for Dicker, who made all five of his attempts in the game.

McConkey dropped a pass on a second down on the third drive of the game. The Chargers punted two plays later. On the first drive of the second half, McConkey dropped another pass, this time on a first-and-20. The completion would have moved the Chargers into Dicker’s range. They, instead, punted.

Late in the third quarter, the Chargers moved into the red zone for the first time in the game. On a first down from the Arizona 11-yard line, Rice did not align correctly. The confusion forced the Chargers to burn a timeout. Two plays later, Dissly had a drop on a third-and-9.

In the fourth quarter, with the Chargers trailing 14-9, Herbert found another gear. He unleashed his two best throws of the game on back-to-back plays. They both fell incomplete. On the first, Herbert threaded a needle on a wheel route to Smartt down the right sideline. Dropped. On the next play, Herbert threw a back shoulder ball to Dissly, perfectly splitting two defenders. Dropped.

The Chargers settled for a 47-yard field goal two plays later to cut the Cardinals’ lead to two points.

The Chargers had seven drops in the game.

“It’s a razor-thin margin in this league,” Herbert said, “and we’re a couple plays away from putting up a lot of points.”

That set the stage for the officials.

The Chargers took over with 10:06 remaining, and Herbert drove his group down the field. The offense faced a third-and-4 from the Arizona 22-yard line with 2:02 remaining. The Cardinals brought a blitz. Herbert threw down the right sideline. The ball sailed incomplete into the end zone.

Fehoko was running a route to that side. Fehoko said he was supposed to be running a double move. Harbaugh said the same thing. Cardinals cornerback Max Melton contacted Fehoko as the receiver was trying to turn upfield. The officials initially threw a flag.

“He was holding me,” Fehoko said.

“We had a double move on, and he got grabbed,” Harbaugh said.

After a brief conference, referee Clete Blakeman picked up the flag. Harbaugh was apoplectic on the sideline. Blakeman said after the game that he deemed the ball “uncatchable,” thus ruling out pass interference. The Chargers wanted a holding call, which does not require a pass to be catchable.

The Chargers settled for a 40-yard field goal to take a 15-14 lead.

On the next possession, the Cardinals faced a second-and-10 with 1:51 remaining. Quarterback Kyler Murray threw down the right sideline to receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. The pass fell incomplete. But the referees called cornerback Cam Hart for unnecessary roughness. Blakeman said after the game that there was “essentially helmet-to-helmet contact near the head and neck area of the receiver.”

First down and 15 yards for the Cardinals.

“That flag was devastating,” said safety Derwin James Jr.

The next play sealed the game. Murray checked down to running back James Conner, who broke multiple tackles on his way to a 33-yard gain and field goal range.

James Conner carries the Cardinals into field goal range!

📺: #LACvsAZ on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Sqca8H41jo

— NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2024

Conner finished with 152 scrimmage yards — 101 rushing and 51 receiving. The defense only gave up 17 points. But Conner forcing missed tackles was a difference in the game.

“James Conner was just running through our defense today,” James said.

The Chargers also gave up a 44-yard scramble touchdown to Murray early in the fourth quarter. They knew Conner was a tough runner. They knew they could not let Murray get loose. The awareness did not translate to execution.

“It wasn’t our cleanest football,” James said.

Five plays after Conner’s long reception, Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland kicked a 32-yard field goal to win the game.

“It was a game of a lot of near-misses or close calls,” Harbaugh said.

In the locker room after the game, Palmer had the receivers huddled up. He was speaking passionately to the group.

“We just got to individually hold ourselves accountable,” Palmer said. “Do the basics, and when it’s time to make plays, make plays.”

By design, the Chargers went into the season with a lack of high-end talent among their pass-catchers.

They believed they could run the ball when they needed to.

Now they have injures to an already weak group of pass catchers. And when they could not run the ball, they did not have the requisite playmakers in the passing game.

That is what happened Monday night.

Do not let the officials distract you from reality.

(Top photo of Jim Harbaugh: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)