Quentin Johnston has two touchdown catches as the Chargers lead the Panthers 20-0 at halftime.
It’s the first multi-touchdown game of Johnston’s career.
The 2023 first-round pick opened the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown reception to cap Los Angeles’ opening possession. Then he caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to finish an 11-play, 65-yard drive.
J.K. Dobbins had the team’s third touchdown, running it in for a 43-yard score after Panthers quarterback Bryce Young threw an interception.
As one could’ve expected after defensive tackle Derrick Brown was placed on injured reserve earlier this week, the Chargers are running all over the Panthers. The team has 134 yards on the ground in the first 30 minutes, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Dobbins leads with 85 yards. Gus Edwards has 27 yards on eight carries. Quarterback Justin Herbert has 22 yards on three carries.
Aside from one poor decision that resulted in an interception, Herbert has been efficient throwing it. He’s 7-of-11 passing for 70 yards with two touchdowns and the pick.
Kicker Cameron Dicker missed the first extra point of his career after Johnston’s first touchdown, but has made the next two.
On the other side, yet again Carolina’s offense has looked listless. The Panthers did not register a first down until there were four minutes left in the second quarter and finished the half with just two first downs.
Carolina has 54 total yards, as Young finished the first half 8-of-10 for 22 yards with an interception.
The Panthers will receive the second-half kickoff.
The Chargers have struck first in their matchup with the Panthers.
Receiver Quentin Johnston caught his first touchdown pass of 2024 to cap Los Angeles’ first drive. But Cameron Dicker missed the extra point, keeping the score at 6-0, L.A.
The Chargers nearly had a turnover in Carolina territory when quarterback Justin Herbert evaded defenders in the pocket to somehow get a pass off to tight end Eric Tomlinson. Tomlinson got his hands on it but the ball came loose and it was initially ruled a fumble recovered by the Panthers. But that fumble was overturned to an incomplete pass on review.
Herbert has started the game 3-of-4 for 43 yards with a touchdown, with Johnston catching a pair of those passes for 32 yards.
Dicker had never missed an extra point in 60 tries in his young career.
Every week we bring you all the inactives from the 1 p.m. ET games in one post, constantly updated with the latest information.
There never seemed to be a chance that quarterback Jordan Love would play for the Packers this week, but the team declined to rule him out ahead of Sunday’s game against the Colts. They did downgrade him to doubtful on Saturday, however, and he is officially out after being placed on the inactive list 90 minutes ahead of kickoff.
Malik Willis will start for the Packers and he will have wide receiver Jayden Reed available to catch passes. Reed was listed as questionable due to calf and shin injuries.
The Colts will be without wide receiver Josh Downs again this week because of an ankle injury, but defensive tackle DeForest Buckner will play despite a back injury.
Colts at Packers
Colts: WR Josh Downs, QB Sam Ehlinger, DB Julian Blackmon, OL Tanor Bortolini, OL Blake Freeland, TE Will Mallory, DL Genard Avery
Packers: QB Jordan Love, S Kitan Oladapo, DL Brenton Cox Jr., T Andre Dillard, T Travis Glover, DL Colby Wooden
Jets at Titans
Jets: CB D.J. Reed, T Max Mitchell, T Carter Warren, DL Leonard Taylor, DL Eric Watts, RB Israel Abanikanda
Titans: DB Julius Wood, LB Caleb Murphy, LB James Williams, OL John Ojukwu, TE David Martin-Robinson, TE Thomas Odukoya
Raiders at Ravens
Raiders: DE Tyree Wilson, CB Decamerion Richardson, RB Dylan Laube, OL Jackson Powers-Johnson, WR Tyreik McAllister, WR Ramel Keyton, S Thomas Harper
Ravens: WR Devontez Walker, OL Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, OL Nick Samac, LB Adisa Isaac, CB Nate Wiggins, CB T.J. Tampa, S Beau Brade
Browns at Jaguars
Browns: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, CB Kahlef Hailassie, G Javion Cohen, T Jedrick Wills, T Jack Conklin, WR Jamari Thrash, TE David Njoku
Jaguars: S Darnell Savage, OL Javon Foster, OL Cole Van Lanen, DL Tyler Lacy, DL Maason Smith, DL Jordan Jefferson
49ers at Vikings
49ers: QB Josh Dobbs, S Talanoa Hufanga, CB Darrell Luter, G Ben Bartch, LB Dee Winters
Vikings: QB Brett Rypien, WR Jordan Addison, T Walter Rouse, DL Levi Drake Rodriguez, DL Jalen Redmond, CB Fabian Moreau, CB Dwight McGlothern
Chargers at Panthers
Chargers: S Alohi Gilman, WR Brenden Rice, RB Kimani Vidal, DL Justin Eboigbe, OL Jordan McFadden, QB Taylor Heinicke, CB Tarheeb Still
Panthers: CB Chau Smith-Wade, CB Shemar Bartholomew, RB Mike Boone, C Andrew Raym, G Jarrett Kingston, TE Messiah Swinson
Seahawks at Patriots
Seahawks: RB Kenneth Walker, T George Fant, LB Uchenna Nwosu, OL Olu Oluwatimi, TE Pharaoh Brown, OL Michael Jerrell, OL Sataoa Laumea
Patriots: G Sidy Sow, WR Kayshon Boutte, OL Demontrey Jacobs, LB Curtis Jacobs, QB Joe Milton
Saints at Cowboys
Saints: WR A.T. Perry, QB Spencer Rattler, CB Marshon Lattimore, DT Khalen Saunders, LB D’Marco Jackson, LB Jaylan Ford, TE Dallin Holker
Cowboys: TE Jake Ferguson, QB Trey Lance, CB Andrew Booth, LB Buddy Johnson, WR Ryan Flournoy, TE John Stephens Jr., OT Matt Waletzko
Giants at Commanders
Giants: S Anthony Johnson, CB Nick McCloud, LB Darius Muasau, LB Boogie Basham, G Jake Kubas, QB Tommy DeVito
Commanders: CB Emmanuel Forbes, DE Jamin Davis, G Chris Paul, LB Dominique Hampton, WR Jamison Crowder, S Darrick Forrest, QB Sam Hartman
Buccaneers at Lions
Buccaneers: TE Devin Culp, T Luke Goedeke, CB Josh Hayes, DL Calijah Kancey, LB Jose Ramirez, DL Ben Stille, S Antoine Winfield
Lions: DL Marcus Davenport, S Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB Ennis Rakestraw, LB Trevor Nowaske, OL Giovanni Manu, WR Isaiah Williams
In his debut with the Chargers, running back J.K Dobbins had a big day. He thinks he can show up even bigger.
“I think I can be way better, you know?” Dobbins told reporters Friday, via NFL.com. “We’ll see. If I get those long runs again, I’m going to take it to the crib.”
Last week, Dobbins had 135 yards on only 10 carries, an uncanny average of 13.5 yards per attempt.
He had 107 of those yards on only two runs — one for 61 and one for 46. He added a 12-yard touchdown in the win over the Raiders.
Dobbins has always been incredibly good when healthy. His career rushing average is 6.1 yards per carry. But it was a knee injury in 2021 and a torn Achilles tendon in 2023 that derailed his career.
As a rookie in 2020 with the Ravens, Dobbins had 134 carries for 805 yards, an average of 6.0 yards per carry exactly.
If he can keep going, the Chargers under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh could be pretty darn good.
“We got a lot of room to improve,” Dobbins said. “We didn’t start out good -- had some bonehead mistakes, had some penalties, some false starts -- we just got to focus up. Great teams, they don’t get it until they get it. You see it, and it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, that teams look scary.’ But you can see we have that. We have the tools, we have the talent. We just have to put it all together, and once we put it all together, it’s going to be good to see.”
They should get to 2-0 on Sunday in Carolina, because the Panthers are, frankly, not good. They next face the Steelers and Chiefs before an early Week 5 bye.
Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa missed a second consecutive day of practice with a back injury that has his availability in doubt for Sunday. The team lists him as questionable to play.
Bosa popped up on the injury report Wednesday as a limited participant.
He played only 14 total games the past two seasons because of injuries, a reason Bosa hasn’t made the Pro Bowl since 2021 when he had 10.5 sacks. Bosa broke his hand in an Aug. 4 joint practice with the Rams that required surgery to repair the fracture, but he played 40 of 60 snaps in the season opener and totaled seven tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits against the Raiders.
The Chargers list safety Alohi Gilman (knee) as doubtful, and receiver Joshua Palmer (knee), cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor (fibula) and running back Hassan Haskins (toe) as questionable.
Haskins and Taylor had limited participation Friday, while Gilman and Haskins did not participate.
