“We did force a couple of turnovers, could have had three of them, got the ball out. So that’s a plus,” Horn reflected after the loss. “I know I was a little bit more conscious of it because the coach is doing a good job of just harping on it. So, I was a little bit more conscious of just shooting at the ball.”
Horn ended the day with the interception, two passes defended and six tackles. None of that is what he’ll remember though, when reflecting back on another game in which the Panthers explosive numbers were unbalanced.
On the first drive of the game, it looked like the defense was going to take over the turnover battle early on, as Horn knocked the ball lose on a catch, and Troy Hill recovered it. On review though, officials ruled it an incomplete pass.
The very next play, with the Chargers facing a third-and-10 from the Panthers 29-yard line, quarterback Justin Herbert took his one-on-one matchup between Horn and receiver Quentin Johnston down the left sideline. Horn had sticky coverage, but the ball went to the one spot it could be a catch.
“I mean, the play happened so fast,” Horn said after of the touchdown. “I ain’t looked at the replay, but, you know, that really don’t matter. I still got to be better…it’s the next play mentality and I just got to be better on the next play. I got to get that ball down and get our offense a chance to come out on the field.”
The latter part was a rub in the game as well. All week Canales pointed to the in-balance of explosive plays the Panthers faced versus the Saints in Week 1. The trend continued on Sunday, as the Chargers garnered eight explosives (five runs of 10 or more yards and three passes of 15 or more) to the Panthers two (both Chuba Hubbard runs).
The Chargers grabbed seven points off one turnover from the Panthers, while the Carolina offense was unable to get any points off the two takeaways by the defense.
“You just got to focus on the next down,” Jewell said of staying motivated when a game tilts. “How can you be better? How can you help the team? That’s just something we need to keep on doing. We need to stack these days and we need to keep on getting maybe that 1 percent better and we can’t falter, and we can’t let the team fall apart.”
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