Chargers @ Rams · Week 8 — SapphireSportz

WEEK 8 · FINAL

THE READ

Chargers run away with it, 48-7

The Chargers ran over the Rams 48-7, with Derrick Henry accounting for the entire afternoon on 24 carries for 397 yards and 5 touchdowns. Los Angeles turned the ball over 5 times and allowed 8 sacks while Joe Burrow threw 5 interceptions on 13 of 29 passing, and the Chargers' defense finished the job with Akheem Mesidor recording 4 sacks. The ground game told the whole story: Chargers 397 rushing yards, Rams 98.

Devon Walker Beat reporter

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Chargers	+10.5	+1.2	+9.3	+2
Rams	-7.2	-0.8	-6.4	-16

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Chargers — AFC #3 · division · 6-2 Rams — in the hunt · 4-5 Playoff picture →

In the MVP race

#3 Derrick Henry HB · Chargers · 13.6% of the field

The whole board →

IN THE BOOTH

Ethan Price The numbers guy

Derrick Henry turned this into a track meet—397 yards and 5 touchdowns on 24 carries—but what actually broke Los Angeles was Joe Burrow throwing 5 interceptions into a secondary that barely had to work for them. The Chargers didn't need to pass.

Talia Morgan Beat reporter · replying

Los Angeles's line gave up 8 sacks and turned it over 5 times—that's a team playing with its hands tied before the Chargers ever touched the ball. At 4-5 and sitting outside the playoffs, the Rams can't afford another afternoon like this one.

Elise Carter The insider · replying

The Chargers didn't just beat Los Angeles—they announced themselves. Henry at 397 yards and 5 touchdowns doesn't happen by accident, and neither does a 41-point margin against a division rival that's still clawing for a playoff spot. The Rams gave it away 5 times and got shredded up front, and at 4-5 that's the kind of collapse that doesn't get forgotten before the trade deadline.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Derrick Henry

Chargers

24 carries, 397 yards, 5 TD

Akheem Mesidor

Chargers

4 sacks

Joe Burrow

Rams

13/29, 233 yards, 5 INT

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Derrick Henry has now cleared 100 rushing yards in 6 straight games.

⭐ Juwan Johnson has not had a better afternoon this season.

📉 Chuba Hubbard is still searching for it: 27 rushing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 80.

📉 Justin Herbert is still searching for it: 55 passing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 144.

WHAT DECIDED IT

On the ground Chargers 397, Rams 98 Chargers

Total yards Chargers 496, Rams 331 Chargers

Through the air Rams 233, Chargers 99 Rams

Pressure Rams 0 sacks, Chargers 8 Chargers

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 8 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Run-heavy Pass 38% · Rush 62% · 40.4 scored, 31.1 allowed

10.6 yds/att 60.0% completions 10.9 yds/carry 386.3 yds/game 1.6 giveaways/game 8.7% sack rate last 5: 3-2

Primary weapon: Sincere Brown WR — 42% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY VERY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 63 · Aggressive Balance 72 Ball security 56 Back usage 60% QB runs 0.7/game

Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.7% of dropbacks

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 95 WR 77 TE 99 RB 88 OL 85 DL 84 LB 76 DB 82

Best: Derrick Henry HB 99 Fastest: Brenen Thompson WR 97 SPD 9 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

lilmike438

Rams · his last 8 games

Balanced Gives it away Takes sacks

Pass / run58% / 42% Points for / against35.4 — 41.8 Margin-6.4 Giveaways a game2.9 Sacks taken9.6% of dropbacks Lead backChuba Hubbard · 12.2/g Top targetDavante Adams · 26% QB carries2.9 a game

TheDJ

Chargers · his last 7 games

Runs it One back One target

Pass / run38% / 62% Points for / against40.4 — 31.1 Margin+9.3 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken8.7% of dropbacks Lead backDerrick Henry · 21.6/g Top targetSincere Brown · 42% QB carries0.3 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES TheDJ against lilmike438 — the men, not the teams

TheDJ leads it 1-0. TheDJ won the last one.

1 meeting avg 48.0 — 7.0 biggest: 41 pts to TheDJ

S1 · week 8 TheDJ 48 — 7 lilmike438 THEDJ

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Chargers receivers vs Rams secondary 77 v 85 RAMS

Rams receivers vs Chargers secondary 87 v 82 RAMS

Chargers line vs Rams front 85 v 88 RAMS

Rams line vs Chargers front 79 v 84 CHARGERS

Chargers backs vs Rams run defence 88 v 88 EVEN

Rams backs vs Chargers run defence 82 v 81 EVEN

Chargers passer vs Rams secondary 95 v 85 CHARGERS

Rams passer vs Chargers secondary 99 v 82 RAMS

TOP PERFORMERS

Derrick Henry HB Chargers 397 rush yds

Joe Burrow QB Rams 233 pass yds

Juwan Johnson TE Rams 83 rec yds

Davante Adams WR Rams 60 rec yds

Chuba Hubbard HB Rams 58 rush yds

Brenen Thompson WR Chargers 50 rec yds

Akheem Mesidor LEDG Chargers 4 sacks

Myles Murphy REDG Chargers 2 sacks

Caleb Ransaw FS Chargers 1 INTs

Daylen Everette CB Chargers 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

CHARGERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Justin Herbert QB	3/10	99	2	0	0	50	107.9

RAMS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Joe Burrow QB	13/29	233	0	5	8	34	33.3

CHARGERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Derrick Henry HB	24	397	16.5	5	9	73	85	0

RAMS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Chuba Hubbard HB	14	58	4.1	1	0	14	14
Adam Randall HB	4	23	5.8	0	1	6	22
Joe Burrow QB	1	17	17	0	0	7	17
Dean Connors HB	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

CHARGERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Brenen Thompson WR	1	50	50	1	10	1	50
Sincere Brown WR	1	45	45	1	41	0	45
Derrick Henry HB	1	4	4	0	0	0	4

RAMS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	YAC	DRP	LNG
Juwan Johnson TE	4	83	20.8	27	0	26
Davante Adams WR	3	60	20	7	1	34
Chuba Hubbard HB	2	30	15	17	0	17
Jordan Whittington WR	1	21	21	0	0	21
Jaylin Noel WR	1	20	20	10	0	20
Adam Randall HB	2	19	9.5	23	0	16

CHARGERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Akheem Mesidor LEDG	6	4	0	0
Genesis Smith SS	4	0	0	1
Caleb Ransaw FS	2	0	1	1
Myles Murphy REDG	2	2	0	0
Lewis Cine SS	2	1	0	0
Josh Hines-Allen DT	2	1	0	0
Charles Demmings CB	2	0	3	0
Devin Moore CB	2	0	0	2
Daylen Everette CB	1	0	1	0
Damone Clark WILL	1	0	0	0
VJ Payne SS	1	0	0	1

RAMS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	FF	CMP ALW	TD
Jessie Bates III FS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greg Newsome II CB	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Donald DT	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bobby Wagner MIKE	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Herbig LEDG	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Foyesade Oluokun MIKE	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylen Watson CB	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Myles Garrett REDG	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

RECENT FORM

Chargers

W 56–44 vs Chiefs WK 6

L 27–48 vs Broncos WK 5

W 49–31 vs Seahawks WK 4

Rams

L 54–58 vs Raiders WK 7

W 42–20 vs Cardinals WK 6

W 37–31 vs Bills WK 5

TEAM STATS

Chargers		Rams
496	TOTAL YARDS	331
99	PASSING YARDS	233
397	RUSHING YARDS	98
0	SACKS ALLOWED	8
8	SACKS MADE	0
0	GIVEAWAYS	5
5	TAKEAWAYS	0

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 CHARGERS — 0 RAMS

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