The crowd sure seemed smaller. The point total definitely was.
The Chargers lost exhibition game number two 13-7 to the New Orleans Saints in front of an announced 21,197 fans at the StubHub Center in Carson, although the stands definitely looked more barren than last week’s 21,054. What did not change is the fact many of them were wearing colors of the visiting team.
We pretty much knew how this game would go based on the first offensive play for both teams. The Chargers had the ball first and quarterback Kellen Clemens (Philip Rivers got the night off by design) handed it off to Melvin Gordon, who ran into a bevy of Saints defenders for a nine yard loss.
Two incomplete passes led to a punt and on the first Saints play of the evening running back Alvin Kamara took a handoff from Chase Daniel (Drew Brees also had the night off by design) and ran 50 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
New Orleans got a 53-yard field goal from Wil Lutz on their next drive to make it 10-0 and then the Chargers offense proved it is utterly inept without Philip Rivers leading it.
Clemens was sacked four times in the first half as the Bolts offense only crossed midfield twice. After the break the offensive line was not a whole lot better.
Third string QB Cardale Jones was sacked four times and threw a pass that should have been intercepted by Saints linebacker Nate Stupar inside the 15 yard line. When the Bolts did get a drive going they ended up turning it over.
Jones found wideout Jamaal Jones on a slant inside the Red Zone but Jones coughed it up and former Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o made the recovery. The Chargers got their only points of the night when Saints backup to the backup Ryan Nassib made a terrible throw towards the goal line that landed in the gut of safety Dexter McCoil who made the pick and ran it back 99 yards for a score and the only points of the night for the Chargers, who have serious offensive issues.
Their only touchdown came on the first drive of the exhibition season, the only drive Rivers has played, and the Bolts have now gone six straight quarters without scoring an offensive point.
The Chargers are 0-2 and next week they get to truly fight for L.A. when they hit the road to play the Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday.
