The Chargers are coming off a narrow win against the winless New York Jets last week that saw an impressive performance from rookie Justin Herbert, winning the FedEx Air Player of the week for his performance.
The Chargers now sit at a precarious 3-7 season, with a somewhat challenging schedule remaining in the season and any chances of making the playoffs would mean that they would most likely have to play perfect football for the rest of the season in order for that to happen.
The first big obstacle starts this Sunday when the Chargers will travel to Buffalo, New York to play the Josh Allen led Bills who sit at first place in the AFC East at 7-3. The key matchup this week is going to be Josh Allen vs Justin Herbert.
Justin Herbert has been the lone bright spot for Chargers fans all season the 22-year old sensation has played at a high level ever since he stepped into the starting role in week two.
For the fantasy people out there he has been the second-best fantasy quarterback since Week 4, which is mind-boggling to think about.
He is also on an incredible pace that would break the rookie quarterback passing touchdowns and passing yards in a season. With the very unfortunate injury that happened to Joe Burrow last week, we wish him a speedy recovery, Justin Herbert is the likely favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Shane Steichen and Justin Herbert have had great chemistry all season, which has likely led to Herbert’s success this season.
The other person helping Herbert’s success is Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen who is coming off the most impressive game of his career with 16 receptions, 145 yards, and a touchdown from Herbert’s best throw of his rookie season.
Justin Herbert delivers a DART to @Keenan13Allen.
Herbert's third TD pass of the game. #BoltUp
?: #NYJvsLAC on CBS
?: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/tUoK0wsA9N pic.twitter.com/OEIg3GeEAj— NFL (@NFL) November 22, 2020
Josh Allen and Justin Herbert had similar entries into the NFL, both were tall gunslinger quarterbacks that had their accuracy and ability to play quarterback questioned coming into the NFL. Both quarterbacks have shrugged off those narratives this season. Allen worked on improving his accuracy this offseason, and it has shown this season. His completion percentage has increased by 10% from last season, which is a difficult statistic to improve that much for a quarterback.
The Bills have reworked their offense this season around Allen from a formerly run-heavy offense to a pass-friendly offense after acquiring Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs in a trade in the off-season. The Bills have some big wins under their belt and most of it has been to late-game heroics from Josh Allen who has led three late-game drives where he threw a touchdown with less than two minutes in the game. That is nearly the polar opposite from the Chargers who have struggled in almost every late-game situation in the last two seasons.
Both quarterbacks have put their teams into position to win most of this season, the only difference is that the Bills have been able to finish out their games. It should be a great matchup between two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL.
The Chargers also activated Austin Ekeler from IR this week, and there is a chance for him to play if he is able to practice all week and the medical staff clears him to play.
If he is able to play it would drastically help the Chargers rushing attack and hopefully help them pull off the upset against the Bills this Sunday.
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