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Here Are The 3 Most Impressive Chargers Stats Entering Week 9

Nov 01, 2023 at 09:45 AM

Eric Smith

Senior Writer

The Bolts are 3-4 and are looking to get back to .500 Monday night against the Jets.

Here are three key Chargers stats ahead of Week 9:

1. 30 TDs for No. 30

Austin Ekeler provided quite the early jolt for the Bolts against the Bears.

The Chargers running back accounted for 56 of the team's 92 yards on an opening-drive touchdown, with Ekeler gaining the final 39 yards on a screen pass where he broke a tackle and raced down the left sideline for the score.

"It was a big point of emphasis. He's such a complete player," Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley said postgame about getting Ekeler involved early on. "That's when he's most dangerous, when he's running the football, catching the football in the screen game.

"To get him going in the screen game, I thought was really big in the game. He's such a weapon for us," Staley added. "He had a lot of time off with that ankle, so you can see that he's getting his rhythm and timing back. We need him to play like that in order for us to have a game like this."

Ekeler's 39-yard receiving touchdown happened to be the 400^th catch of his career.

And it also put the former undrafted free agent at 30 career receiving touchdowns, with Ekeler becoming the youngest running back to reach the mark.

He also is now the only running back in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to have 30 receiving scores with the same team and is just one of seven players in NFL history to have 30 touchdowns rushing and 30 touchdown catches in a career.

2. Stout run defense

The Bolts biggest offseason emphasis has come to fruition as we near the halfway point of the season.

The Chargers ranked near the bottom of the league in rushing yards allowed in 2022 but have produced a stout run defense entering Week 9.

Staley's group currently ranks sixth by allowing just 93.4 yards per game and are also 10^th at 3.78 yards allowed per rush. A season ago, the Bolts were 28^th and 32^nd, respectively, in those categories.

The Chargers run defense has been especially solid over the past three games against the Cowboys, Chiefs and Bears by allowing just 237 yards on 72 combined carries, good for just 3.2 yards per attempt.

The Bolts also rank sixth in the NFL over the past three games by allowing just 79.0 rushing yards per game.

"The guys are playing with good fundamentals and good effort," Staley said.

3. Dicker's distance

When Cameron Dicker and Dustin Hopkins were battling for the Bolts lone kicker spot this offseason, the assumption outside the building was that Dicker's leg strength was in question.

The 23-year-old has quieted those naysayers the past two weeks by drilling 50-plus yard field goals in back-to-back games.

Dicker was good from 55 yards out against the Chiefs to set a career high and notch the third-longest kick in team history. He was then true from 53 yards out against the Bears in Week 8.

Dicker, who has made three total field goals from 50-plus this season, has shined once again in his second season in the NFL.

He's made 11 of 12 field goals and ranks ninth in field-goal percentage at 91.7 percent. Dicker has also hit all 19 extra points so far in 2023.

Dicker's touchback percentage on kickoffs is 89.7, which ranks sixth in the league.