Zach Wilson vs Chargers: A Breakdown

Alright everyone, gather around, let us commence our weekly catharsis session with this team and our QB.

I said it in the game thread, I have a feeling this is going to be a bloodbath. I don't think Zach is the entire problem but he's absolutely a big part of the problem. Football is a team game though and he's getting let down by his OC, OL, and receivers on a very consistent basis. It would be easy for me to say, "Bench Zach and start Siemian next week" but I'm not entirely sure how much that would "fix" anything. To be fair, Siemian can't be much worse than Zach, so maybe they should try it?

Anyway, let's get into it...(link to every Zach pass here)

1st Quarter:
14:06, 2nd & 6: 12 personnel, 2x2 formation. Seems to be a Bench concept where Uzomah runs an out from the TE position on the right side of the formation, Zach overthrows him by a few yards. This is a layup. Inexcusable miss to start the game. (0-1)

13:39, 3rd & 6: 11 personnel, 2x2 formation. Lazard runs a slant/in from the left side of the formation. Zach throws a hospital ball to Lazard who gets walloped as he tries to catch it (maybe should been a personal foul?). I think if Zach throws this with anticipation, it's a completion, but he wait until he sees Lazard break open before his throwing motion even starts. Tomlinson is in Zach's lap (classic) so he can't step into the ball which causes him to put more air under it than he probably wanted. He still has to get rid of this ball sooner. Trust your receivers, if they let you down, it's on them, not you. Brutal way to start the game. (0-2)

12:33, 2nd & 4: 12 personnel, 2x2 again. PA pass, seems to be the same play as his first throw, bench concept where the inside receivers (TEs) run outs and your outside guys (WRs) run corner routes. Zach sees GW break open, throws the ball, just a little too far to the sideline. You'd rather have that than leave it too far inside and it be a pick though but he needs to throw a better ball here. If this was just a slightly better ball GW catches it, but he doesn't, incomplete. (0-3)

12:27, 3rd & 4: 11 personnel, trips left. Designed swing screen to Breece to the left side. Good ball from Zach. Breece does Breece things, finds a lane to get 5 yards and the first. (1-4, 5 yards)

11:22, 2nd & 6: 11 personnel, 2x2. Woof, this play design is awful, basically all 4 receivers run sit downs at the first down marker. Obviously, Zach has nowhere to go with the ball other than his checkdown in Cook for a gain of 1. Zach gets a RTP call though which moves us into Chargers territory. (2-5, 6 yards)

11:01, 1st & 10: For whatever reason this play is not on the YT video? I found it on Twitter though, link here. Hard to tell the formation here because the play has started but I believe it's 11 personnel, trips bunch left. I'm fairly certain this was an RPO check at the LOS that Zach read correctly. If you notice, the rest of the offense is already engaged with defenders by the time GW has the ball in his hands. Zach sees GW with almost 10 yards of cushion and hits him quickly on a smoke route. GW makes the first man miss but then gets tackled and fumbles the ball. Really tough break for the entire offense as it finally felt like they had gotten into a rhythm on this drive and would've been at around the 35 yard line after this play. Goes down as a gain of 7 in the stat book. (3-6, 13 yards)

8:55, 2nd & 9: 11 personnel, trips bunch right. Double PA slip screen pass. Good play design. Zach hits Breece who gets smoked by Derwin James after a gain of 3. (4-7, 16 yards)

8:15, 3rd & 6: 11 personnel, 2x2. Love this from Zach. Hole shot play where GW runs an out from the left slot and Gipson goes vertical to get to the hole in a Cover 2 look. Zach sees the outside defender sit down to take away GW's out and throws it to Gipson. Wish he'd have put a little more mustard on this one or thrown it with more anticipation and maybe Gipson could've avoided the hit but good throw and a good catch by Gipson for a gain of 19. (5-8, 35 yards)

6:36, 3rd & 3: 11 personnel, 2x2. Not sure of the route concepts but this is partly on Zach and partly on Turner. Turner gets bulled into Zach's lap within 2-3 seconds but Zach is somehow oblivious to the pressure right in has face and does nothing to get rid of the ball. Breece is wide open in the left flat, he's the checkdown, try to get over there but you can't just let the ball sit right in front of Joey Bosa and expect good things to happen. Fumble. (5-8, 35 yards, 1 fumble)

2:44, 1st & 10: 13 personnel, trips bunch right. Seems to be another designed swing screen to Breece in the right flat. Nothing going and Breece gets tackled for no gain. (6-9, 35 yards, 1 fumble)

1:34, 2nd & 15: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach sees nothing down the field and hits Uzomah in the left flat. Uzomah can't make his guy miss and gets tackled for a gain of 3. (7-10, 38 yards, 1 fumble)

0:53, 3rd & 12: 11 personnel, 2x2. This is some Madden type play calling. Seems to be a 4 verts play, or maybe 3 verts and Conklin's running a post. Either way, awful play calling with 0 creativity on 3rd and long. Zach takes a shot to GW down the sideline and GW almost makes a great catch but it falls incomplete. Zach could've made this more of a back shoulder throw and maybe it would've been a completion but idk. (7-11, 38 yards, 1 fumble)

 

2nd Quarter:
12:11, 2nd & 10: 21 personnel, offset I, twins left. PA pass where Bawden chips and then releases as Zach's checkdown. Zach hits Bawden who gains 7. Well done. (8-12, 45 yards, 1 fumble)

11:32, 3rd & 3: 11 personnel, 2x2. Breece goes in motion to the right then back to the left. Designed quick pitch out of the Gun look. I think there's blame for both Zach and Breece here. Zach's gotta get more behind this pitch and Breece can't alligator arm it. Based on how the blocking set up, probably would've been a first or very close to it. One of those many examples of this team shooting itself in the foot. ESPN categorized this as a ZW fumble? Interesting but as I said earlier, probably not entirely without merit. Luckily, Breece falls on it to avoid it becoming a worse play. (8-12, 45 yards, 1 fumble)

8:45, 2nd & 5: 11 personnel, starts as trips bunch left. Gipson comes in motion left to right. Zach gets Bosa to jump, free play. Lazard runs an out from the left side of the formation and Zach throws him a good ball, gain of 6 and the first down. Well done. (9-13, 51 yards, 1 fumble)

7:47, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Slip screen to Cook. It looks like this ball hits Cook in the hands. Could it have been a better throw? Sure, but this is one Cook has to catch. I think Cook should join Cobb on the inactive squad going forward. Zach isn't blameless here though. This should be an easy throw. Hit him in the chest and leave no doubt. Incomplete. (9-14, 51 yards, 1 fumble)

7:24, 2nd & 15: 11 personnel, empty set, trips bunch left. Zach hits Ruckert on a sit down for a gain of 7. Not a bad decision, 2nd & 15, just try to get some back and get to 3rd and manageable. (10-15, 58 yards, 1 fumble)

6:47, 3rd & 8: 11 personnel, trips left. Chargers give a pressure look pre-snap and bring 5. Zach steps in into the pocket and as he gets past all the defenders, he flips it to MC who's guy is right next to him for a gain of 3. I was screaming at my TV when I saw the replay. You've got to take off here and try to get the first. This is a dumb play by Zach. He's got an easy path for a first down if he runs. There's absolutely no reason to flick this ball to MC when you've got 10-15 yards of open field in front of you. (11-16, 61 yards, 1 fumble)

4:34, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, empty set, trips right. Zach hits GW who runs a sit down from the left slot for a gain of 3. (12-17, 64 yards, 1 fumble)

3:20, 3rd & 4: 11 personnel, trips bunch right. This is maybe the best example I've ever seen of Zach going through his progressions. His eyes immediately go to GW, who's covered, then Conklin over the middle, also covered, before finally seeing Gipson open on a curl route on the right side of the formation for a gain of 13. I would love to see more of this from Zach. Quick progressions, find the open guy, and sling it. Love to see it. (13-18, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

2:42, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Designed slip screen that gets sniffed out by the Chargers' DL. Zach wisely just dirts the ball at Breece's feet. (13-19, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

2:38, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach tries to hit Lazard on a curl route from the outside on the right side of the formation. Good ball from Zach, dropped by Lazard. This was a bad, bad game from Lazard. Really wish we'd have spent that money on DHop instead of Cook right about now. Lazard HAS to catch this ball, perfect ball that hits him square in the hands. Woof. (13-20, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

2:34, 3rd & 10: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach sees nothing and Mitchell gets beat like drum by 45 very quickly resulting in a sack. Zach needs to get rid of the ball but I can't fault him too much here. Mitchell got smoked so quickly that he didn't really have much time to try to get to his checkdown. (13-20, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

0:47, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, empty set, trips left. Zach throws a ball to Lazard who runs a slot fade. Lazard has to go get this ball. Maybe not the best throw form Zach but I'm not really sure what else he could've done here. You expect your 6'5" WR to go make a play on a much shorter CB and win this ball. Again, just awful game from Lazard. I mean, he's trying to body catch it against a DB who he's got a good 4-5" on, wtf??Incomplete. (13-21, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

0:41, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, trips left. Bad play by Zach. He's got Gipson on a sit down underneath here but he tries to force the ball to GW who's running a dig/crosser behind the zone defenders. He's lucky this ball isn't picked by 6. Incomplete. (13-22, 77 yards, 1 fumble)

0:36, 3rd & 10: 11 personnel, empty set, trips left. Zach sees nothing down field so he hits Conklin in the left flat for a gain of 4. (14-23, 81 yards, 1 fumble)

First Half Breakdown:
I remember thinking at the half that I don't think Zach's played THAT bad and after the rewatch, I stand by that. He had a couple of mistakes (the fumble, flipping it to MC instead of taking off, missing Uzomah on the first throw) but I felt like he was also let down a lot by his supporting cast too. Again, please don't read this as me saying he played a good first half because he did not but with the OL playing poorly, Lazard dropping almost everything thrown his way, and GW also fumbling the ball away, I didn't want to place all the blame on Zach and I think that's still a justifiable stance to have now.

 

3rd Quarter:
15:00, 1st & 10: 12 personnel, twins bunch right. PA pass, Zach bails out of the pocket when the pressure arrives and rolls out to his left. Finds GW down the field and throws a great ball to him for a gain of 31 yards. Great job by Zach. Stood strong in the pocket, sensed the pressure, rolled out but kept his eyes down field and delivered a good ball to GW. Great job by GW too. GW was running a go route and broke it off when he saw Zach roll out of the pocket. Well done all around. (15-24, 112 yards, 1 fumble)

13:55, 2nd & 8: 12 personnel, 2x2. I think this is another bench concept but Uzomah runs an out from the right side of the field. Zach has some happy feet in this pocket that I don't love but he throws a good ball to Uzomah for a gain of 8 and a first down. Well done. (16-25, 120 yards, 1 fumble)

13:23, 1st & 10: 12 personnel, 1x3. Another RPO check by Zach at the line here. Sees GW with almost 10 yards of separation and hits him on the smoke route instead of going with the run play. GW goes for a gain of 5. (17-26, 125 yards, 1 fumble)

12:39, 2nd & 5: 11 personnel, 2x2. Conklin runs a crosser from right to left. Zach hits him after he gets behind the LB and he goes for a gain of 16. Well done by Zach here, good ball. (18-27, 141 yards, 1 fumble)

11:32, 2nd & 8: 13 personnel, 2x2. PA pass, Zach gets pressured and gets sacked. Zach needs to get rid of the ball here. Breece is open in the flat. Worst case, he drops it. Best case, he does Breece things and something magical happens. Either way, just can't take a sack on 2nd & 8. Turner does get beat like a drum but that's right in front of his face. Get rid of the ball. (18-27, 141 yards, 1 fumble) PS: why the f*** are we running PA passes out of 13 personnel form the 11 yard line? Spread them out Hackett, or stick with the 11/12 personnel that got you down to the 10. No need to bring another TE in here so they can condense everything. Ridiculous.

10:48, 3rd & 15: 12 personnel, trips left. Awful play call, awful protection, awful personnel package. Turner gets beat like a drum, again, and Bosa is in Zach's lap before he really has time to make a play on 3rd an long. Zach still probably should've just hit Lazard on the slant instead of taking the sack but Turner almost makes that impossible. Tough stuff all around. (18-27, 141 yards, 1 fumble)

8:09, 1st & 18: 12 personnel, 2x2, WR twins bunch right. GW runs a dig from the right side of the formation. Zach stands in the pocket and throws a good ball into the gap in the zone as a defender hits him. Another example of plays you love to see from Zach. He needs to do this more consistently. Gain of 13. (19-28, 154 yards, 1 fumble)

7:38, 2nd & 5: 12 personnel, 2x2. PA boot to the right. Zach needs to hit Uzomah immediately here. He's open, I get it, Mack is in your face and he's a beast but you've got to make this throw. Uzomah likely gets the first down if you hit him immediately. Instead, Zach makes Mack miss, somehow, continues to roll out to the right and throws an inaccurate ball to Uzomah along the sideline. Incomplete. (19-29, 154 yards, 1 fumble)

7:29, 3rd & 5: 11 personnel, trips right, Conklin goes in motion right to left. Chargers bring 5. Zach throws a ball to Conklin who's running a seam route from the left slot. Falls incomplete but Jets get the DPI call to extend the drive. (19-30, 154 yards, 1 fumble)

7:04, 2nd & 9: 11 personnel, 2x2. Malik Taylor runs a curl from the right side of the formation, Zach hits him on time. Well done, good ball, on time. Gain of 7. (20-31, 161 yards, 1 fumble)

3:29, 3rd & 8: 11 personnel, empty set, trips left. Chargers give a pressure look but only bring 4. Bosa stunts inside and Tomlinson can't get to him quickly enough. Sack. Bosa gets there in around 2 seconds to I can't fault Zach too much here. He needs another tick to see if someone gets open. (20-31, 161 yards, 1 fumble)

 

4th Quarter:
9:18, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips bunch left. GW runs a slant from the right side of the formation. Zach throws an inaccurate ball way too high and out in front of GW. Incomplete. (20-32, 161 yards, 1 fumble)

9:15, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach hits GW on an out from the left slot. GW gains 12. Good throw and catch. (21-33, 173 yards, 1 fumble)

8:22, 1st & 18: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach tries to hit GW on a dig coming from the left side of the formation. Mack gets around Turner and affects his release, causing the pass to fall incomplete. Can't beat Zach up too much for this. Turner needs to be gone immediately. (21-34, 173 yards, 1 fumble)

8:18, 2nd & 18: 11 personnel, 2x2. Conklin runs an out from the in-line TE position on the right side. Zach throws a solid ball, Conklin catches it for a gain of 6. (22-35, 179 yards, 1 fumble)

7:44, 3rd & 12: 11 personnel, 2x2. Good game by the Chargers DL here. Feels like they did this to get Zach to scramble out left so 45 would be there for him. I think this was the play I saw on Twitter where Hackett basically just has all the receivers sit down at the first down marker too, if so, there's no one open and nowhere for Zach to go with the ball. Zach has some blame on some of the sacks form this game but I can't blame him too much here. I'll see if I can find the tweet after I post this and put it in here somewhere for everyone to see. (22-35, 179 yards, 1 fumble)

4:36, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips left. Lazar runs a slant from the left side of the formation. Good route by Lazard and throw by Zach. Gain of 12. (23-36, 191 yards, 1 fumble)

4:13, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Slant by GW from the left side of the formation. Good throw and catch. Gain of 9. (24-37, 200 yards, 1 fumble)

3:42, 2nd & 1: 11 personnel, 2x2. Mack once again imposes his will against Turner and collapses the right side of the pocket. Zach still holds the ball too long here. Seems like it was 3-3.5 seconds before Mack got to him which is long enough for the ball to be out. So mainly on Zach IMO, but partially on Turner here. Fumble. (24-37, 200 yards, 2 fumbles)

3:22, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Zach stands strong in the pocket and tries to throw a ball to Lazard who can't catch it. Incomplete. (24-38, 200 yards, 2 fumbles)

3:18, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach tries to hit GW down the left sideline but falls incomplete. Just a good play by the defense. Zach throws a good ball, GW catches it, but the defenders break it up. Tough break. Zach also has Tomlinson in his lap here so he can't step into the throw which is why it doesn't have that much on it. (24-39, 200 yards, 2 fumbles)

3:12, 3rd & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Zach gets pressure through the A gap and scrambles out to his right. Sees nothing so takes off for a gain of 7. Well done. (24-39, 200 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

3:05, 4th & 3: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach sees nothing downfield so hits MC who's wide open in the flat and gets 6 yards and the first. Well done. (25-40, 206 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

2:42, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach hits MC over the middle for a gain of 7. (26-41, 213 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

2:18, 2nd & 3: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach scrambles out of pressure to his left. Finds MC on the sideline for a gain of 3 and a first. (27-42, 216 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

2:03, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, empty set, trips right. Zach and Hackett finally take a shot down field to Malik Taylor. Falls incomplete. Down 3 TDs, I've got no issue with the decision but it's not a very accurate ball. OT be fair to him, it's not a terrible ball, a good WR maybe makes a play on it but that's not what Malik Taylor is. (27-43, 216 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

1:57, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. MC is wide open in the left flat, Zach hits him. Gain of 5. (28-44, 221 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

1:50, 3rd & 5: 11 personnel, trips right. Zach hits MC in the left flat again. MC gets tackled at the LOS for no gain. (29-45, 221 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

1:23, 4th & 5: 11 personnel, trips right. Zach hits Conklin on a seam route on the right side of the field. Laser. Good throw and catch for a gain of 33. (30-46, 254 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

0:56, 1st & Goal: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach hits Conklin on an out route from the right side of the formation. Gain of 3. (31-47, 257 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

0:46, 2nd & Goal: 11 personnel, 2x2. Uzomah is wide open in the end zone, Zach throws a good ball, drop. Add Uzomah to the inactive list IMO. Cook, Uzomah, and Turner should all be on the inactive list going forward IMO. This felt like the perfect encapsulation of the night though, even when Zach did make a good throw, he was let down by his receivers. (31-48, 257 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

0:41, 3rd & Goal: 11 personnel, trips left. Nothing open and Zach gets pressure. He scrambles out to his right and just runs OOB. Probably should've just thrown the ball OOB but whatever. (31-48, 257 yards, 2 rushes, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

0:34, 4th & Goal: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach throws the ball into double coverage short of the goal line on 4th down. Woof. Taylor looks like he might have had a shot at the TD coming in behind Conklin on the slant but maybe not. Either way, can't throw the ball short of the goal line on 4th, especially into double coverage. It's one thing to throw to someone who's wide open and has an easy path to the EZ but Conklin wasn't and didn't. Gain of 4. (32-49, 261 yards, 2 rushes, 7 yards, 2 fumbles)

 

Half by Half Breakdown:
1st Half:
14-23, 81 yards, 1 fumble

2nd Half:
18-26, 180, 2 rushes, 7 yards, 1 fumble

Total:
32-49, 261 yards, 2 rushes, 7 yards, 2 fumbles (ESPN has him at 33-49 for 263 so I missed something somewhere)

TLDR; Zach wasn't good on Monday night. Zach was also let down on multiple occasions by the OL, his receivers, the play calls, and boneheaded mistakes by various players on offense. Both of these things can be true. Zach had a lot of bad plays. Zach also had a handful of good plays. This is just who Zach Wilson is, a wildly inconsistent QB. I think this is mainly on Zach but partially on how they're coaching Zach and these god awful play calls.

I guess my point here is I understand why people want to make a change at QB but I honestly don't think Siemian or Boyle would do any better in this offense right now. Maybe it's worth a shot though? I would hope that Zach is on a short leash Sunday night against the Raiders. If we get to halftime and he looks bad and we've only got 3-6 points, I'd be in favor of giving someone else a shot in the 2nd half. It honestly can't get much worse.

 

I mean, I said it was an inaccurate ball that was too high and out in front of GW. Idk how much more critical of the throw I can be. It was an awful play by Zach, he's gotta hit that throw.

I'm not sure it was a gimme TD. There's a deep safety on the play that comes in at the last second. It's possible that it could have been a TD though because it's GW and we've all seen him do some special things with the football in his hands.