In losing 24-22 to the Buffalo Bills this past Saturday, your Los Angeles Chargers looked like a wholly different team under interim head coach Giff Smith than the disconnected, disengaged Brandon Staley-led club that fell 63-21 to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Eric Smith of Chargers.com writes that, though they recorded another loss against Buffalo, the Chargers did totally outflank them in one critical defensive category: turnovers. The Bolts led Buffalo 3-0 in this metric, propelled by veteran Alohi Gilman and rookie AJ Finley.
"I just saw Josh Allen kind of have that half roll that he's been doing," Gilman said in describing his process to force a fumble late in the final regulation frame. "A lot of times it's kind of like a throwback or something, so I kind of read it, had enough depth to overlap and undercut the route."
"Baller," safety Derwin James raved. "He works hard every week. Lo is a guy we can count on and he had two big plays in this game."
"Alohi, he's always out doing what he's got to do," Finley said of his comrade. "You know Lo is going to be where he's got to be. You can always depend on Lo and today was a true example of that, being in the right place at the right time, making plays, just having fun with it."
Finely relieved Bills punt returner Deonte Harty early in the game's first quarter to kick off the triple-turnover party.
"I felt when I wrapped him up, I kind of had a grip on the ball so I was like, 'I'm going to try to rip out and see if I can get it'. And it came out," Finley said.
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