INGLEWOOD (CNS) - Justin Herbert had two passes intercepted that were converted into 11 points as the Los Angeles Chargers lost to the New England Patriots, 27-24, today at SoFi Stadium.
“We shouldn't have lost,” said Chargers' receiver Keenan Allen, who caught six passes for 77 yards, both game highs, including a 5-yard pass from Herbert for a second-quarter touchdown.
“We beat ourselves. Penalties, turnovers, drops. I thought the Ravens did a damn good job. Today, it was all us.”
The Chargers lost to Baltimore, 34-6, Oct. 17, their last game before Sunday's loss.
The Chargers outgained New England 369 yards to 352 but trailed 21-17 in first downs and 35:24-24:36 in time of possession before a crowd announced at 70,240.
“What we have to be able to do is execute our offense better,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said after his team lost back-to-back games for the first time in 2021, dropping to 4-3, one game behind the Las Vegas Raiders in the race for the AFC West lead.
“We have to be able to sustain our offensive execution over time. You can't just have a quick drive or two. We have to stay in rhythm, then we'll be better and we'll have a lot more production moving forward.”
The Patriots took the lead for good when former Charger Adrian Phillips intercepted a pass by Herbert and returned the ball 26 yards for a touchdown with 10 minutes, 11 seconds to play.
Herbert said the interception was the result of “miscommunication.”
“I have to be smarter about that,” Herbert said. “I have to move on to the next read, but that's one of those plays that you need to just watch and get better from.”
Mac Jones' pass to Jakobi Meyers for a 2-point conversion gave New England a 24-17 lead.
Phillips also intercepted a pass by Herbert with 57 seconds left in the first half and returned the ball 12 yards to the Chargers' 40-yard line, setting up Nick Folk's 48-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 14-13 10 seconds before halftime.
Folk's 30-yard field goal with 2:19 left in the fourth quarter gave the Patriots a 27-17 lead. New England drove 54 yards in 6:56 to set up Folk's fourth field goal.
Folk also kicked a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 48-yarder in the third quarter.
Herbert threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie Joshua Palmer with 40 seconds left, but former Charger Hunter Henry recovered Dustin Hopkins' onside kickoff to seal the victory for New England (4-4).
“We did enough things to win, so that's good,” Patriots' coach Bill Belichick said after his team's third victory in four games following a 1-3 start.
“On offense, we ran the ball, we moved the ball, we got enough points to win. There's certainly a lot of room for improvement and we will work on that this week.”
New England ran for 141 yards on 39 carries, including Damien Harris gaining a game-high 80 yards on 23 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Herbert completed 18 of 35 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and a season-worst 66.7 passer rating. He was sacked three times.
“In the passing game, we weren't good enough today,” Staley said.
“We didn't protect the passer well enough at all. We had far too many drops. We didn't play with great timing at times because of those things.”
Jones completed 18 of 35 passes for 218 yards and was sacked once. He had a 70.9 passer rating.
The Chargers rushed for 163 yards on 20 carries, including a 75-yard run by Justin Jackson that set up Allen's touchdown.
The run was the second-longest run by a Charger in the past decade, behind only Melvin Gordon's 87-yard run against the Patriots in 2017, and the second-longest non-scoring run in the team's 62 seasons, behind Pro Football
Hall of Fame member LaDainian Tomlinson's 76-yard run on Dec. 1, 2002 against the Denver Broncos.
The 163 yards were the Chargers' second-highest total of the season behind their 168 in their 28-14 victory over Las Vegas Oct. 4.
Chargers' running back Austin Ekeler topped 100 yards from scrimmage for the fifth time in the season, with 64 yards on 11 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run on the game's opening possession, and 60 yards on six receptions.
The Chargers' defense made one takeaway. Derwin James Jr. caused receiver Kendrick Bourne to fumble, with Nasir Adderley recovering on the Chargers' 25-yard line.
However, the Chargers were unable to capitalize, punting after five plays.
The fumble was the third James forced this season. He is the first Chargers' defender to force three fumbles in the team's first seven games of the season since defensive end Marcellus Wiley in 2001.
Dustin Hopkins kicked a 48-yard third-quarter field goal in his Chargers' debut. He was signed Oct. 26 after Tristan Vizcaino was waived.
The Chargers converted four of 12 third downs, 33.3%, New England nine of 14, 47.4%. The Chargers converted their lone fourth-down conversion attempt, while the Patriots were unsuccessful on its lone fourth-down conversion attempt.
The Chargers were penalized five times for 40 yards, New England four times for 30 yards.
“I loved the way that we started the football game, but I don't think that we established any rhythm after that,” Staley said. “We didn't get the explosions when they were available and just weren't quite able to put it together today.”