Chargers follow the Eagles’ lead, using chunk plays to scorch the Vikings defense

INGLEWOOD, CALIF. — The Chargers’ longest play of the night Thursday was a second-quarter, drive-starting 40-yard completion from quarterback Justin Herbert to tight end Oronde Gadsden II.

It’s the fifth play of 40-plus yards the Vikings defense has given up this season.

Herbert dropped back and then out to the right, with Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson wheeling around back of him in pursuit, and heaved it to Gadsden near the 50-yard line. Linebacker Blake Cashman and safety Harrison Smith were the nearest Vikings in coverage.

Four days after the Eagles offense sliced open the Vikings defense with explosive chunk plays, including a 79-yard touchdown by DeVonta Smith and a 45-yard reception by A.J. Brown, the Chargers widened the wounds with even more.

The Chargers finished their 37-10 trouncing of the Vikings with 419 net yards of offense, their second-most after a 445-yard performance in their loss to the Colts on Sunday.

This was the third straight game the Chargers’ offense recorded over 400 net yards, but it’s the most yards the Vikings defense has given up since last season’s Dec. 8 matchup with the Falcons, which the Vikings won 42-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Both teams finished with over 400 yards of offense in that contest.

Chunk plays (either run or pass plays of 15-plus yards) accounted for 53% of the Chargers’ yardage. All five of the Chargers’ top offensive performers Thursday — Herbert, Gadsden, wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen and running back Kimani Vidal — finished with at least one play over 15 yards.

“We gotta be better in a lot of areas,” he said. “That wasn’t our brand of football. ... You have a decision to make. Feel like you’re staring down the barrel, but you can’t panic. Gotta stay connected and continue to go back to go to work and just improve on the simple things.”

The Chargers had seven plays of 15-plus yards and another two over 25 in the first half, including Gadsden’s 40-yarder. The drive after that, Herbert found McConkey on a 27-yard pass to the front right corner of the end zone, with a diving Jeff Okudah unable to trip McConkey up.

The big plays dialed back in the second half, as the Chargers opted for longer drives to drain the clock. Four of their five second-half possessions were over four minutes long; the longest was a 6 minute, 54 second drive early in the fourth quarter.

Vidal, though, contributed his explosive play on a first-and-10 at the Vikings’ 49-yard line late in the third quarter. He bounced off Smith and safety Theo Jackson before being brought down by cornerback Isaiah Rodgers.

It was a 21-yard play, the Chargers’ final chunk play of the night.

The back-to-back losses to the Eagles and Chargers mark the first losing streak this season for the Vikings (3-4).

Three teams remaining on their schedule lead the league in plays of 40-plus yards: The Cowboys and Seahawks with six, and the Giants with five.

The Lions, the Vikings’ next opponent, join the Cowboys and Seahawks in the league’s top 10 for most plays of 20-plus yards.

“We never wanna be in a spot like this where we’re under .500, especially with the team we have coming into the season on paper and the expectation that we have for this team,” safety Josh Metellus said after the game.

Still, Metellus isn’t alarmed yet. He said that the team is having conversations about how to move forward and find solutions.

Watch the postgame episode of “Access Vikings”: