Eric Weddle Delivers a Big Hit in Chargers Victory
The variety of the San Diego Chargers‘ offensive weapons was again on display on Sunday. A week after throwing three touchdown passes to tight end Antonio Gates in a 30-21 win over Seattle, Philip Rivers turned his attention to several other of his targets. Rivers was 18 of 25 attempts for 256 yards in a 22-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. Chargers wide receiver Malcolm Floyd had two 49-yard catches that set up separate scoring drives. Eddie Royal finished with four catches for 42 yards. Not to be overshadowed by the Chargers’ offense, the San Diego defense forced a safety. Plus, defensive captain Eric Weddle delivered a big hit to Bills’ wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. The win was everything the Chargers could ask for, except running back Danny Woodhead suffered a severe ankle injury on San Diego’s first drive.
Weddle Puncuates Efficient Chargers’ Win
In many ways, the Chargers/Bills game was an unfair contest. Bills’ EJ Manuel continues to struggle as the team’s starting quarterback. Without a consistent running game, Chargers’ defenders had plenty of chances to make big plays. In the play, in particular, Manuel took the snap on tried to hit Goodwin on a crossing pattern on 1st and 16. Unfortunately for Manuel and Goodwin, they never saw Weddle waiting in the wings. He delivered his hit to Goodwin’s mid-section and separated the ball from the player. Tom Krasovic of the Union-Tribune wrote, “The gap in aptitude between Rivers and Bills counterpart EJ Manuel was just too great for San Diego to lose, barring strange events.” He added, “The Chargers had the only true NFL quarterback on the field, and it really didn’t matter that former first-round draftees Ryan Mathews and Melvin Ingram were inactive.”
Eddie Royal’s touchdown receptions were fantasy football owners‘ wet dreams. Royal is a low-ranked receiver in mock drafts and WR rankings lists. But the slot receiver can be a key addition to rosters from the waiver wire.
Weird Observation of the Game
Apart from the Eric Weddle big hit on Marquise Goodwin, this Eddie Royal image from Sunday’s game went viral on social media. It’s not a fake. Offensive lineman King Dunlap looks like some sort of Shrek-like ogre, while Royal looks like a little person. This makes no sense, but then again neither did the performance of EJ Manuel.