Giants (0-3) Chargers (3-0)
The Chargers were trailing the Denver Broncos 20-13 late in the fourth quarter last Sunday. They came up with a touchdown, and kicked a field goal with five seconds left, to give them a 23-20 win over the Broncos.
The Giants had their first home opening game in a Sunday night match up with the Kansas City Chiefs. They were coming off a game where they put up 37 points, but scoring was tough against the Chiefs and they ended up with a 22-9 loss.

Los Angeles Chargers
Coming off a 2023 season with a 5-12 record, the Chargers signed Jim Harbaugh to a five year, $80 million contract. Last year Harbaugh's coaching led the team to an 11-6 record and a wildcard game which they lost to the Houston Texans. Things are looking good so far for the Chargers this season, and the win over the Denver Broncos last week gave them their first 3-0 start since 2002. All the Chargers wins have been over the rest of their AFC West division opponents. They haven't taken the division title since 2009, and this gives them a good shot to hit that mark this year.

Los Angeles Chargers Offense
Jim Harbaugh believes in a strong running game, and that was one of the biggest improvements this offense saw once he became the head coach. They were up from 97 yards per game to 111 yards, and had 17 rushing touchdowns compared to 11. That also led to more points being scored, which jumped to an average of 23.6 a game. Having the opposition respecting your running game, takes some of the pressure off the quarterback. Justin Herbert threw 23 touchdowns with 3 interceptions, better in both areas than the previous year. His average per completion was 7.7 yards, the highest in his career. In three games so far, Herbert has notched that up to 8 yards, and he leads the NFL with 860 passing yards.
Herbert has thrown 6 touchdowns and had his first interception in last week's game when a pass to top receiver Quentin Johnston was intercepted. Johnston has 14 receptions for 239 yards, a 17.1 average per catch, and has caught 3 touchdowns. Keenan Allen spent 11 seasons with the Chargers, and then was traded to Chicago last year. In the offseason they brought him back to the team, and he's the next leading receiver with 19 catches for 194 yards, and has pulled in the other 3 touchdowns that Herbert has thrown. That includes the one that tied the game for them last week. Ladd McConkey, a rookie second round pick last year, led the team in receptions and yards, and is now the third leading receiver.
Rookie running back Omarion Hampton, selected by the Chargers in the first round of the draft, is the lead rusher on the team, and has the only rushing touchdown. Herbert is second in carries and yards, and that's due in part to running back Najee Harris suffering a torn Achilles injury in the game last week. Harris was signed in the offseason to ensure durability to the running game, as he had never missed a game in his four year career, and was in the top seven in carries during that time. Those three players have accounted for 272 of the teams 275 rushing yards, and 17 of their 18 first downs gained on the ground.

Los Angeles Chargers Defense
Jim Harbaugh was the new head coach for the Chargers, and he made sure to bring along Jesse Minter from the college ranks to be his defensive coordinator. Like many of Harbaugh's moves, it was a wise one. The teams passing defense had ranked 30th and he moved it up to 7th, allowing 43 less passing yards per game. Interceptions jumped from 25th place to 8th when they came up with 15. The biggest improvement was the most important, points given up per game. They were ranked 24th in the league, and became the top defense giving up just 17.7 points a game.
So far this year, against some very tough opponents, those teams have averaged 16.7 points on average in their failed attempts to win against the Chargers. The defense has allowed less than 95 rushing yards a game, and just 182 passing yards. Linebacker Daiyan Henley was one of the best last year with his 142 tackles, and he leads the team now having 2 of their total 7 sacks, and he has one of their 3 interceptions. They are working without veteran pass rusher Khalil Mack, who had one sack before he dislocated his elbow in the Chargers win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
In the secondary safety Derwin James continues to do it all, as he did last year when he was second on the team in solo and total tackles, and had one interception. James currently leads the team in both those areas, has one sack, and was just named AFC Defensive Player of the Week. James is one of the reasons the Chargers run defense has been playing so well. Linebacker Bud Dupree is another. Minter knows how to get the most from his players, and he knows how to mix things up for opposing quarterbacks.

Giants Offense
Well Brian Daboll made the move, and Jaxson Dart will get what every drafted quarterback looks forward to, a chance to get out there and lead the team all the way down the field and score touchdowns. The fans are looking for that too, especially seeing how the Giants lost to Kansas City. They saw how a week earlier Malik Nabers came up with 167 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Wan'Dale Robinson had 142 yards and one touchdown. Russell Wilson was bringing it then, but last week, though there were opportunities, it just wasn't happening.
Dart has looked good in preseason play, going 32-of-47 for 372 yards with 3 touchdown passes and no interceptions. The good news for Dart is that left tackle Andrew Thomas, who was limited in his first game back, looks to be ready to handle being on the field for a full game. Wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Theo Johnson, who both missed some practice this week due to shoulder issues look clear to go. It's another story for running back Tyrone Tracy, who was injured early on in last weeks game, and he has been ruled out for this one.
Cam Skattebo stepped up, and the rookie running back finished the game as the leading rusher. Skattebo had 10 carries for 60 yards and one touchdown, and also was the team's leading receiver with 6 receptions for 61 yards. The Giants got a big game from Skattebo, but he can't be the only one to do it. It's on the coaches as well. Nabers was held to just 2 receptions on 7 pass targets for 13 yards the way the Chiefs covered him. The Giants need to make teams pay using others, when opponents go full coverage on their best receiver.

Giants Defense
This defense has been up and down in games, and they know they can do better. Justin Herbert was hit 14 times, and sacked 4 times last week. In his three games Herbert has taken 10 sacks, and this Giants defense would like to add more to that list. They have the talent to do the job with a defensive line that consists of Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter.
Burns leads the Giants in sacks, coming up with at least one sack in each of the first three games. Burns ties with others in the league for the second most sacks, and he has 13 total pressures. Thibodeaux is second on the team with 1.5 sacks and 12 total pressures. Carter has been credited with .5 sacks, but has 11 pressures. Lawrence led the team last year with 9 sacks, but he draws all the attention now, while the others put up numbers.
Sacks and pressure count, as the secondary will see Herbert trying to hit wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston, maybe more so as their rushing attack just took a bit of a hit losing running back Najee Harris. They don't really have a replacement for him this game except off the practice squad. That part works a bit in the Giants favor as they are next to last in the league giving up 153 rushing yards a game. They also have to think about Herbert running with the ball. They did their job last week, as Patrick Mahomes took off with the ball only 5 times for a total of 2 yards.

Overall
Last week the Giants faced off with Kansas City, a team that had no wins. The Chiefs got back to their winning ways, scheming a way to stop what seemed to be a Giants successful scoring offense. This week the Giants face the 3-0 Chargers. They were hindered last week as Graham Gano was injured, and they now have at least a healthy kicker, Jude McAtamney off the practice squad. Russell Wilson couldn't find the endzone, so Jaxson Dart gets a start. Will the Dart hit the mark? The hometown Giants fans sure hope so.

NFC East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Chargers (3-0) at Giants (0-3)
Sunday at 1:00pm Commanders (2-1) at Falcons (1-2)
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles (3-0) at Buccaneers (3-0)
Sunday at 8:20pm Packers (2-1) at Cowboys (1-2)
The Eagles are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games. Check out.
Giants On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.

TeamGiants on Twitter.

Next Games
Oct 5 Giants at Saints
Oct 9 Eagles at Giants