2020 Long Island EFL Week#3 Carolina Panthers (1-1) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (1-1)

[Long island EFL]

CHARGERS PLAY BIG IN WIN OVER PANTHERS 21-14! 

August 31, 2020. Los Angeles California. 

THE PREGAME SHOW:

Well, well, welcome to September! This Long Island Electric Football League game today matters more than people in this league may think! There are goals to be met, business to take care of, and a team on the verge of going beyond the NFC Championship in this league. Anytime you have a two-time NFC finalist, back-to-back, it raises eye-brows in the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers lost a very tough game at Tampa Bay last week 21-17, and that is a small setback, but they have to play this game in Los Angeles like a playoff game or their season could make a quick turn for the worst, as Matt "Zoo-York" McQueen's Panthers face Coach Eddie Viggs' Los Angeles Chargers. McQueen said, "I am not going to panic and I have been planning for this game mentally since the beginning of the season when I laid out the schedule. We come from different divisions so I can show more in this game against Viggs because it is unlikely we will meet anytime soon, but if we do, I have lots of weapons. My Panthers are a triple threat team. My line is going to have to slow down LT early on and force the pass and I expect them to be able to do that."

The Chargers are going in the direction few go in this league, and that is, past the AFC title.  They are the favorite to light up the AFC!

The money is on the line! Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson, the 2019 AFC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the AFC in rushing with 267 yards and 4 touchdowns going into Week#3, and Los Angeles is a team to be reckoned with at (1-1). Their entire season is resting on the next two games versus Tampa Bay on the road and Buffalo at home in a heated rematch of the AFC Divisional Championship Game in which the Bills beat the Chargers 49-48! That game will be a full house! And then the Chargers face their last two games on the road against division rivals, Oakland and Kansas City, so this will be a war-torn season which requires tremendous preparation. Coach Viggs, the LIEFL Master of Preparation said, "You need to understand that I am not looking ahead at all. Leave that to Slawson's Corner.  We have an outstanding football team and coach to play today. We have to rise to playoff level electric football in order to even think about the next game.  Carolina is a tough team in more than one ways. We have to figure out how to stop Greg Jones and if we can slow down the Panthers field position, we will take advantage of that. Jones has 332-yards with two one-hundred yard touchdowns on kick returns. He's lethal! They have taken their game to new heights with Jones, and DeShaun Foster is one of the most dangerous backs in the league.  Do you see our focus now?"

THE GAME: Carolina Panthers (1-1) vs Los Angeles Chargers (1-1)

 

On the opening kickoff, LaDainian Tomlinson only took the ball back only 35-yards, but the Chargers showed who's boss today on their home-turf as the offensive line kicked right in with Tomlinson runs of 1, 8, 2, and finally a 45 yard touchdown run to give the Chargers the 7-0 lead, with 9:20 left to go in the half on a beautiful touchdown sweep past All-Pro Guard Ernie Ladd!

 

The Panthers returned the kick with Greg Jones for 43-yards to give the Carolina great field position to open their first possession. And four plays later running back DeShaun Foster skillfully took a 29-yard scamper into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7, with 1:47 left to go in the half!

 

Los Angeles is on a mission just like Carolina. After a gorgeous 51 yard kick return by Kellen Winslow, on the first play of the second half Tomlinson took it 49 yards into the end-zone for Los Angeles, making the score 14-7, with 14:40 left to go in on a spectacular explosive run with 9:31 left to go in the game!

 

The intensity level has risen to a boiling point. Coach Ed Viggs seemed to figure out specialist Greg Jones for the Panthers. Jones was stopped in his tracks by the Chargers at the 39-yard line. Finally, a team who can slow him down a little bit as coach Viggs promised. But on two straight runs DeShaun Foster ran for 20 and 18 yards down to the Los Angeles 19-yard line. Foster was determined and three plays later, Foster ran in his second touchdown of the game to tie the score 14-14 with 5:41 left to go in the game! What a powerhouse display of football for both teams.

 

The Panthers couldn't slow down the running game of the Chargers as time was running out.  Kellen Winslow came up HUGE for Los Angeles with a big 63-yard kick return! With 13 seconds left on the clock quarterback Philip Rivers faded to the right and threw a cross pattern pass into the reliable hands of Lance Alsworth for a 28-yard touchdown to win the game, 21-14!

 

What a fast-paced game for both teams. Coach Viggs said, "I knew going into the game I was going to be distributing the ball equally and I got Winslow and Alsworth involved and that was the difference in the game. Those two have not seen much action because LT has been our offense with this great offensive line. LT scored two touchdowns and when you have two of the same type of runs for 45 yards or more, that's going to be a big problem for any defense." 

 

Coach McQueen on the other end said, "This guy is like a clever fox, you have to out-fox him. He really knows how to plan for a football game. I think we played great and that wasn't good enough. I tried to get the game into overtime, but Viggs knew how to control the ball. There's nothing wrong with my Panthers. They are a great football team. We just didn't have luck on our side today and now it's like a wrestling match in the wrestle-backs, we are fighting our way back to win our division at a disadvantage, but my Panthers are the best (1-2) team in the NFC! "

 

Both teams play it at a playoff level today. And they're going to need to do that for the rest of the season as the Long Island Electric Football League heats up!