“Yeah, I mean, they went for it 20 times on fourth down,” he said.
Not quite, but close.
According to NFL statistics, the Chargers have attempted to convert on fourth down 17 times, fourth most among the league’s 32 teams. They’ve been successful 11 times, or 64.7 percent, sixth best.
The Vikings’ offense is better on fourth down, 66.7 percent, but on nine attempts. Detroit, which has gone for it on fourth down an NFL-high 21 times, has converted on just 38 percent of attempts.
The Chargers are gamblers.
“Fourth-and-7 on the 40-yard line, on their own 16-yard line, (their) own 20-yard line, they’ve done it several times,” Zimmer said. “They’re going to go for it on fourth down.”
On paper, it’s not a great matchup for the Vikings, who have allowed teams to convert fourth downs on 8 of 12 attempts this season, 66.6 percent. That’s the fifth-worst mark in the NFL, although somewhat deceiving.
The Ravens went for it on fourth down twice in their own territory last week and missed both, once on a sack by D.J. Wonnum and once of a false start. Wonnum’s sack was negated by his horse-collar tackle, a 15-yard penalty, and neither play qualified for the game book. Officially, the Ravens were 3 for 3 on fourth down.
In a 27-24 victory at Philadelphia last Sunday, the Chargers didn’t punt once.
“You tend to understand they’re probably going to go for it,” Zimmer said. “So, you anticipate you’ll have four downs to try to get the first down.”
“They’re pretty aggressive, they want to score points,” Vikings linebacker Nick Vigil said. “So, yeah, we’ve just got to keep them out of those fourth-and-short situations if we can.”
Behind second-year quarterback Justin Herbert, the Chargers — 5-3 and tied for the AFC West lead — also rank fifth in passing with 282.4 yards per game. Herbert is the NFL’s seventh-leading passer with 2,350 total yards and has thrown 18 touchdowns against six interceptions.
Barr, Pierce out
Anthony Barr, who missed the first four games of the season with a right knee injury, was ruled out for Sunday’s game on Friday. The linebacker did not practice all week.
Defensive tackle Michael Pierce also missed all three practices because of an elbow injury and was ruled out. Pierce hasn’t played since being injured in a 14-7 loss to Cleveland on Oct. 3.
Cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who was pulled from last Sunday’s game because of a groin injury, was ruled questionable and practiced all week on a limited basis.
Briefly
It appears the Chargers will get starting cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. back after he missed last week’s game because of a concussion. However, cornerback Ryan Smith, who replaced Michael Davis (hamstring) for the past two games, has not practiced all week because of a knee injury. Neither has Davis.
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Vikings expecting four-down drives from Chargers - Pine Journal
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