Best and worst Chargers PFF grades vs. Buccaneers: Joe Alt, Poona Ford stand out in tough loss

The Buccaneers almost did what they wanted Sunday afternoon against the Chargers. Nothing really stood out in a positive light for the Chargers, and that was really reflected in their ho-hum game grades this week.

Let’s go ahead and dive in to see how Pro Football Focus graded the Chargers in their close loss to the Bucs.

Crime

Best (min. 20 snaps played)

OT Joe Alt – 75.1
WR Quentin Johnston – 73.2
OT Rashawn Slater – 69.6
QB Justin Herbert – 63.4
AND Jamaree Salyer – 63.3

Justin Herbert was pressured into the third-highest percentage of dropbacks in his career. Despite that, guys like Alt, Slater and Salyer had decent games. Slater led the way with an 88.5 pass block grade, while Alt led the way with a 74.1 in run blocking.

Worst

RB Kimani Vidal – 45.9
WR Joshua Palmer – 47.8
TE Stone Smartt – 50.5
C Bradley Bozeman – 58.0
AND Trey Pipkins – 59.0

Vidal’s grade was fueled by a 34.2 in pass protection. That was second worst on the team behind Scott Matlock’s 28.6.

Smartt went from having one of the best game grades given out to a Chargers player this season to finishing in the bottom five after a rough outing. He had a great catch earlier in the game that made it look like he would carry over his momentum from the Chiefs game, but that was forgotten the moment he fumbled the ball away on the final drive of the day for the Chargers.

Defense

Best

DT Poona Ford – 79.0
DT tea tart – 78.5
S Derwin James – 75.6
S Elijah Molden – 72.3
LB Junior Colson – 72.2

Ford and Tart are becoming a very good defensive tackle duo for the Chargers. They each made impactful plays and it’s good to see them both at the top here. Tart had the team’s best run defense and pass rush grade of 78.3 and 76.4, respectively.

Colson’s play was refreshing for the rookie. He has had a number of low-grade outings when healthy this season. He led the team with an 81.2 grade in tackles, which is surprising given how poorly the entire team looked to tackle the Bucs.

Worst

LB Daiyan Henley – 35.7
EDGE Khalil Mack – 39.1
DT Otito Ogbonnia – 41.0
S Marcus Maye – 45.8
EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu – 48.3

What a strange game for both Henley and Mack. It was the lowest game of the season for both players. Henley had the second-lowest tackle rating on the team at 29.7 when he missed four tackles Sunday. Mack had the team’s worst defensive rating at 39.5, while Henley had the third-worst at 42.3. Mack also recorded just one pressure the entire game.

Tuli failed to register a pressure against the Bucs and finished with the team’s worst pass-rush grade (48.8).

Tito posted the second-worst defensive grade behind Mack at 41.2.

Maye allowed two completions on two targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. He also missed a tackle and allowed the most yards after the catch on defense (31 yards).