New England Patriots team grades vs Los Angeles Chargers

If you thought Brady’s passing stats were deceiving once digging deeper into the data, the Chargers rushing stats is even more deceiving.

Los Angeles’ rushing game success began and ended with one Melvin Gordon rush. About midway through the first quarter, Gordon ripped off an 87-yard touchdown to put the Chargers ahead for the first score of the game. That was about all the Chargers would manage on the ground.

Outside of Gordon’s long run, Los Angeles got nothing going on the ground. If you take out Gordon’s 87-yard run, the Chargers managed only 70 yards on 20 carries. Gordon ran for 45 yards on his other 13 carries, which is 3.5 yards per carry. The long run makes his stats look good, but Gordon struggled overall.

The second leading rusher for the Chargers was actually Benjamin, who had two carries for 14 yards. Backups Aaron Eckler and Branden Oliver had little impact, rushing for eight and three yards respectively. For some reason, Oliver was used in a wildcat package that didn’t confuse the Patriots at all.