By Tim Peterson
(Inglewood) – The Chargers controlled the game from the outset and ultimately dispatched Chicago 30-13 on Sunday Night Football before 70, 240 fans at SoFi Stadium.
The Charges never trailed in the game leading 14-0 at the end of one and 24-7 at halftime.
The Chargers got started on their first possession driving 92 yards on 10 plays for the opening score. Justin Herbert hit Austin Ekeler who galloped 39 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
LA’s defense forced Chicago to punt on its first two possessions.
After the second punt the Chargers marched 55 yards on nine plays. Simi Fehoko hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Herbert with 43 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 14-0.
Ja’Sir Taylor picked off Chicago quarterback Tyson Bagent and the Chargers were in business again at their own 43 early in the second quarter. This led to a 43-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker “The Kicker” with 8:50 left in the second quarter.
The Bears broke through late in the second quarter when Darrynton Evans scored on an 11-yard run to cap a 14-play, 75-yard drive with 1:47 left in the first half to cut the lead to 17-7.
But the Chargers had an answer just before halftime as they went 75 yards on nine plays in just 1:43. Herbert hit Donald Parham on an 11-yard touchdown strike with four seconds left in the half. The Chargers took the 17-point lead into the break.
The Chargers burned almost seven minutes off the third quarter clock moving down into Chicago territory. Dicker booted a 53-yard field goal with 8:51 left in the third to put the Chargers up 27-7.
The Bears then went for it on fourth and one but were stopped at their own 29-yard line. LA took over at that spot and managed a 46-yard field goal by Dicker for a 30-7 lead late in the third quarter.
The Bears struggled to score points but did add one more score when Bagent kept it and ran in from one-yard out with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter for the final tally of the night.
Herbert completed 31 of 40 for 298 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Ekeler ran for just 29 yards on 15 carries but he did his damage receiving. He caught seven passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Keenan Allen added 69 yards on eight catches.
For the Bears, Bagent, who is playing for the injured Justin Fields, went 25 of 37 for 232 yards and no scores but he also threw two picks. Tight end Cole Kmet caught 10 passes for 79 yards.
With the victory the Chargers improved to 3-4 on the year while Chicago dropped to 2-6. Next up for the Chargers is a road game with the New York Jets November 6 on Monday Night Football.
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