The Los Angeles Chargers fell 24-16 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon.
The Los Angeles Chargers took on the Buffalo Bills in Week 3, and after a tightly contested game, the Bills came out on top with a final score of 24-16 in Week 3.
With that said, let's take a look at how this game unfolded and how the Bills were able to come out on top and force head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers to fall to 0-3.
On the first drive, the Bills started with the ball, and on the first offensive play of the game, quarterback Josh Allen handed the ball off to running back James Cook, who was hit by Chargers defensive tackle Justin Eboigbe, resulting in a fumble by Cook and recovery by Eboigbe, and set Los Angeles up with great field position.
Then, quarterback Justin Herbert was able to help the Chargers take advantage of the turnover as Los Angeles got into the red zone, and then on third and goal at the one-yard line, running back Keaton Mitchell was brought in motion and caught a pass coming across the formation from Herbert and was able to get the ball in the end zone to put the Chargers up 7-0.
Then the Bills and the Chargers each punted once while both defenses generated negative plays to keep the offenses behind the sticks.
After that, the Bills had a decent drive going, but then Allen was intercepted by rookie safety Genesis Smith, which gave the Chargers great field position once again.
Following the interception, Los Angeles was able to drive down but was forced to settle for a 31-yard field goal from kicker Cameron Dicker, which extended the lead to 10-0.
The next drive, Allen threw a pass deep down the field and Smith picked him off again while making an incredible catch.
After Allen's second interception, the Herbert led the Chargers on a solid drive, but Los Angeles was unable to get in the end zone, which led to Dicker attempting a 45-yard field goal, but he missed it, which left the Chargers up 10-0.
Then, Allen and the Bills were able to respond as they marched down the field and kicker Tyler Bass hit a 28-yard field goal which cut the Chargers lead to 10-3.
On the next possession, the Chargers were forced to punt as they could not get anything going.
Following the punt, Allen led Buffalo all the way down the field as he completed a 37-yard pass down the sideline to wide receiver Keon Coleman which got the Bills down to the one yard line, and then Allen got the ball into the end zone on a quarterback sneak which tied the game at 10-10.
On the final drive of the first half, Herbert and the Chargers ran out of time, so the first half came to an end with the score tied at 10-10.
After halftime, the Chargers got the ball to start and they were able to march the ball all the way down to the red zone, but after several penalties Los Angeles trotted Dicker onto the field and he was able to hit a 21-yard field goal which put the Chargers back on top 13-10.
The next drive, Allen completed a pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid, but cornerback Tarheeb Still forced Kincaid to fumble and Still was able to hop on it for the Chargers.
Following the turnover, Los Angeles was not able to take advantage as they punted the ball back to Buffalo.
With the ball back Allen was looking to drive the Bills down the field, but he was sacked by edge rusher Khalil Mack and Allen fumbled on that sack, with the fumble being recovered by linebacker Daiyon Henley to give the Chargers the ball back once again.
On the next possession, Herbert led the Chargers on a solid drive, but he ended up being intercepted by safety CJ Gardner-Johnson on the one-yard line, which took points off the board for Los Angeles.
The Bills were able to take advantage of the turnover as Allen marched them down the field and then he punched it in on another one yard touchdown run to give Buffalo their first lead of the game 17-13.
Following that, Herbert and the Chargers needed a response but they could not get anything going as they got to fourth and 10 and then turned the ball over on downs.
After the turnover on downs, the Bills capitalizes as they moved the ball all the way down to the red zone and then Cook ran into the end zone from three yards out to extend the Buffalo lead to 24-13.
On the next drive, Herbert was able to get the Chargers down the field, but they could not get a touchdown, so Dicker came onto the field and was able to hit a 33-yard field goal to cut the Buffalo lead to 24-16.
Then the Chargers needed to get an onside kick, but unfortunately, Dicker and the kickoff team were not able to get the job done, so the Bills were able to run out the clock after Cook got the only first down that Buffalo needed to end the game.
With that said, the Bills overcame a rough start and were able to pick up the 24-16 win over the Chargers which now has the Bills at 3-0 and the Chargers at 0-3.
Following the loss, the Chargers are in a very rough spot and if they cannot pick up a win soon, they may be in real danger of missing out on the postseason, but also potentially having one of the worst records in the entire league.
