Justin Herbert, Kyzir White lead Chargers’ comeback win vs. Washington

LANDOVER, Md. — Chargers wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams were angry at themselves for dropping passes, a rarity for the team’s top playmakers.

“I want to start the whole season over,” Allen said about his sentiments toward the drops.

Most of the Chargers likely wanted a reset before starting their rally during the Week 1 matchup filled with surprises.

Among unexpected events, the Chargers trailed the Washington Football Team in the fourth quarter Sunday for Brandon Staley’s head coaching debut at FedExField.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert had a bad interception in the red zone to go with his receivers’ rare drops.

But the biggest surprise was Washington fans chanting the backup quarterback’s name. Taylor Heinicke was in for relief after Ryan Fitzpatrick injured his hip in the first half.

The Chargers needed a momentum-changing play to get out of their season-opener deficit. Linebacker Kyzir White delivered the momentum with a forced fumble and Herbert took it from there to lead the Chargers to a comeback 20-16 victory.

“The way he is as a quarterback, he ignites you when you have a drop,” Staley said about Herbert. “He’s going right back to you. And that’s what happened with Mike Williams, he kept going back to Mike. Mike ended up making a bunch of big plays for us.”

Allen’s drops came early in the game, but Williams’ miscue occurred in the end zone when he dropped a pass from Herbert with the Chargers down three points with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

The two dynamic receivers repaid Herbert’s trust with crucial third-down catches on the final drive to secure their victory. Herbert killed the final seven minutes of regulation with completions to Allen for 17 yards on third-and-16, KJ Hill for 19 yards on third-and-3 and Williams for 20 yards on third-and-7.

Allen got the fourth and final third-down conversion with a nine-yard reception to give the Chargers victory formation. They converted 14 of 19 third downs for the most conversions in a single NFL game since 2011.

“Fourteen of 19 is unheard of,” said Herbert, who completed 31 of 47 passes for 337 yards, one touchdown and one interception. “For us to be that efficient, and find those guys, Keenan, Jared Cook … all of them made huge third-down catches.”

Herbert completed passes to eight players and targeted nine players. Allen recorded nine receptions for 100 yards. Williams had a career-high eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Herbert and Williams connected for a 3-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead 20-13 with 11:21 in the fourth quarter.

“Those 50-50 balls, he’s going to come down with it,” Allen said about Williams. “He’s mad at himself right now because he didn’t come down with the one in the end zone.”

With the Chargers trailing 16-13, cornerback William Jackson III jumped in front of tight end Stephen Anderson to intercept Herbert’s pass with 12:23 in the fourth quarter. But the Chargers’ defense quickly lifted Herbert after rookie cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. hit Washington running back Antonio Gibson to create an opportunity for White to cause the fumble that was recovered by Kenneth Murray.

“They came off the sidelines and said, ‘Justin we got your back,’” Herbert recalled about what the defense told him after his turnover. “I appreciate that and I’m gonna go back out there and keep shooting.”

Heinicke shook off a sluggish start with a 34-yard throw to wide receiver Terry McLaurin during Washington’s first drive of the second half. Heinicke’s throw got past Nasir Adderley and McLaurin kept his feet inbounds to complete the play near the sideline. Adderley got beat again in coverage when Heinicke found tight end Logan Thomas for an 11-yard touchdown to give Washington its first lead at 16-13 with 11:20 in the third quarter.

Fitzpatrick left the game with a right hip injury after taking a hit from Chargers edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu with 8:57 in the second quarter. Heinicke’s first two throws were against Samuel, but the Chargers’ rookie forced incompletions.

Heinicke’s first points came on the final drive of the first half. He led Washington down the field with 48 seconds left to set up Dustin Hopkins’ 48-yard field goal. Joey Bosa’s 15-yard roughing the passer penalty prolonged the drive.

The Chargers went into halftime with a 13-9 advantage. Herbert completed 19 of 27 passes for 179 yards in the first two quarters. Hopkins had three field goals.

Herbert led the Chargers on a 76-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, but it ended with a 33-yard field goal from Tristan Vizcaino to increase the team’s lead 10-6. They settled for a field goal because Allen had a rare drop on third-and-4.

The Chargers were denied again after they failed to score a touchdown in a goal-to-go situation. Vizcaino made a 27-yard field goal to increase the Chargers’ lead 13-6 with 48 seconds left at halftime.

But the Chargers had no issues against Washington’s vaunted defense on the opening drive with a balanced attack that finished with Austin Ekeler crossing the end zone on a 3-yard run.

The Chargers’ offense finished with 424 total yards with 90 coming on the ground. Ekeler had 15 carries for 57 yards, but he wasn’t one of the nine players targeted by Herbert.

Heinicke finished 11 of 15 for 122 yards and one touchdown. Gibson had 20 carries for 90 yards and McLaurin had four catches for 62 yards.

Allen was mad at his drops, but pleased with the end result. He’s seen too many Chargers rallies fall short in his nine years with the team.

“I obviously know what it is to lay on the other side of the blanket,” Allen said. “This is definitely the cooler side.”