Chargers-Saints Live Game Recap: Bolts back at home, hungry for a ...

Entering Week Eight, you won’t be able to convince either the Chargers (3-3) or Saints (2-5) that this game isn’t pivotal for their respective seasons. The Bolts are unexpectedly at .500 following a their loss to the Cardinals a week ago and the Saints are one the wrong side of a five-game losing streak after winning their first two with a tremendous offensive output.

The Chargers need this win to keep from dropping their playoff hopes even sooner and the Saints...well...they’re just tired of losing and would like to see this lengthy skid come to a screeching halt.

One would expect this to be another easy contest due to the plethora of injuries plaguing the Saints. They’ve lost over half a dozen starters up to this point at key positions like wide receiver and along the offensive line. However, the Chargers are feeling the sting of the injury bug, as well.

Entering today, Joey Bosa has barely two full games worth of snaps. Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis are both expected to miss their second consecutive games. Starting cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is currently on injured reserve while being joined by reserve corner Deane Leonard and running back Gus Edwards.

Both teams are hurting. Both teams are feeling their losses. But neither team would ever tell you thats an excuse to drop this one. Expect a hard-fought contest at SoFi Stadium today.

For a complete quarter-by-quarter recap of today’s game, check it out below.

First Quarter

The Saints won the toss and chose to defer. The Chargers offense was up first.

Unfortunately, it’d be tough to write a worse start for the Bolts in this one. Through their first two drives, Justin Herbert completed just one-of-five passes for negative two yards as the team recorded consecutive three-and-outs. On the second punt, long snapper and JK Scott were seemingly on separate pages as the snapped was botched, leading to a safety for the Saints.

Just a little under five minutes into the game, the Chargers were down 2-0.

The Chargers were able to move the chains for the first time on their third drive of the game thanks to a pitch-and-catch to tight end Will Dissly. But the drive stalled on the next set of downs after a dropped pass by Dissly and a sack of Herbert on third down.

On their fourth drive of the game, Justin Herbert took a snap, scanned, and took off out of the pocket for a huge 38-yard run to get the Chargers past midfield. Before the opening quarter came to an end, the Bolts were inside field goal range facing a fourth down.

Second Quarter

As the period opened, Cameron Dicker came on to convert a 46-yard field goal to give the Chargers a 3-2 lead.

Elijah Molden almost had his third interception of the season, but a challenged incomplete pass off the hands of Saints tight end Taysom Hill was upheld despite the review showing no sign of the ball touching the turf.

The Chargers still converted their first third-down of the game and continued to march down the field. Just outside the red zone, Herbert lofted a fade route to Simi Fehoko but cornerback Marshon Lattimore held his inside arm which drew a flag for pass interference, setting the Chargers up at the three-yard line. Following a false start penalty on tight end Eric Tomlinson, Herbert found Ladd McConkey to the one-yard line before Dobbins punched it in. Dicker uncharacteristically missed the extra point wide left which pushed the Chargers’ lead to 9-2.

Just before the half, Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler was able to move the offense into field goal range. A New Orleans field goal minimized the Bolts’ lead to 9-5 before halftime.

Third Quarter

The Chargers offense helped flip the field by going from their 10-yard line to nearly midfield before being forced to punt back to the Saints. On the other end, Scott Matlock brought down Rattler on second down for his first sack of the season before a Daiyan Henley blitz forced a third-down incompletion.

The ensuing Chargers drive only lasted two plays as Herbert found McConkey deep up the right sideline who made a great contested grab against cornerback Alontae Taylor. Not only did he make the catch, McConkey was able to tightrope the sideline, cut back inside, and weave his way through the Saints secondary en route to striding into the end zone for a 60-yard touchdown. The big play also pushed the rookie wideout over 100 yards receiving for the first time in his career.

After trading punts, the Saints found some life on offense thanks to a blow play by edge rusher Bud Dupree. While trying to punch the ball out of Kamara’s hands, Dupree turned a stuffed run into a big first down after he allowed the ball-carrier to break free and rumble for a chunk of yards. Eventually, the Saints kicked a field goal to bring the score to 16-8.

Fourth Quarter