The San Diego Chargers fell to 5-7 on the season with Sunday's 28-21 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A pair of second half interceptions in the second half and Tampa Bay scoring 11 unanswered points in the fourth quarter contributed to the loss.
Stat of the Game:
On the 35-yard TD strike to Dontrelle Inman just over four minutes into the game, Philip Rivers passed Drew Bledsoe (44,611) for 12th most passing yards in NFL history.
Play of the Game:
On second down during the Bucs' first possession of the game, Casey Hayward cut in front of Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans to pick off a pass from Jameis Winston. The interception puts Hayward in sole possession of most interceptions on the season (seven).
Turning Point:
Facing a 3rd-and-14 in the fourth quarter, Rivers dropped back and aired out a pass in the direction of Travis Benjamin. Benjamin, who was able to get separation, couldn't haul in the pass and forced a Chargers punt. Tampa Bay ended up getting the ball on their own 49,and three plays later, scored a touchdown and successful two-point conversion. That swing ended up cementing the 28-21 final score.
It Was Over When:
Needed one yard from their own 29 with 2:05 remaining, Jacquizz Rodgers rushed up the middle for two to move the chains. With San Diego out of timeouts, the Bucs were then able to take a series of knees to run the clock out and walk out of Qualcomm victorious.
Bolt Quotebook
"(I'm) very disappointed with the outcome of the game. I think that we got off to a fast start as a team, with the touchdown drive by the offense and then the turnover by the defense, but unfortunately we had a poor second half as a team." – Head Coach Mike McCoy
"We've had a lot like this. Not necessarily losing this way, but we haven't gotten it done…. It's times like these that you find out about a lot of guys and we have a lot of guys to find out about." – QB Philip Rivers
"We left some plays on the field. Granted, they're a great team and they capitalized off our mistakes. They did make plays on their own. But it's sickening right now." – ILB Denzel Perryman.
Odds and Ends
Tampa Bay outgained San Diego 349-330 total yards. The Bucs held an advantage through the air 268-211 while the Bolts had the edge on the ground 119-81.
Jahleel Addae and Korey Toomer led the defense with 10 total tackles. Joey Bosa had one tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and the team's sole sack of the day good for a loss of 12 yards.
Melvin Gordon finished the game with 84 yards on the ground and one touchdown as well as 54 yards through the air.
Jahleel Addae served as an honorary captain.
Inactives for the Chargers included CB Brandon Flowers, RB Ronnie Hillman, TE Asante Cleveland, ILB Jatavis Brown, C Max Tuerk, T Tyreek Burwell, WR Geremy Davis.
