INGLEWOOD — Wide receiver Keenan Allen took the blame for why the Chargers’ trick-play lateral to win the game Sunday against the Carolina Panthers didn’t work.
“I could have put it more in his hands,” Allen said about his pitch back to running back Austin Ekeler. “It’s a walk in touchdown.”
Ekeler didn’t allow Allen to take the blame.
“If it hits my hands, I gotta catch it,” Ekeler said. “I messed it up.”
It didn’t matter whose fault it was. The ball hit the ground and the Chargers were handed a what-could-have-been 21-16 loss at SoFi Stadium.
The Chargers (1-2) marched to the Panthers’ 28-yard line from their own 1-yard line to be in position for the improbable walk-off victory. The Chargers had one play left with six seconds remaining in regulation. They called a play they’ve prepared for in practices the past two years.
“Great play call,” Allen said. “We’ve been working on it (for) like two years. We finally got the chance to call it. It came up. It happened a lot faster than it does in practice, obviously.”
Ekeler was the right player to be on the receiving end of the failed trick play.
He caught 92 passes in a breakout 2019 season. He had 11 catches for 84 yards versus the Panthers. He had waited two years for that play to be called in a game.
“I’ve been looking forward to running that play,” Ekeler said. “I love that play every time we run it in practice, and then we come out and lay an egg when it should have worked.”
If Ekeler would have caught it, he had plenty of room on the left side of the field to cross the end zone, or at least an opportunity to break a few tackles and dive for a pylon touchdown. The Chargers had 70.4 percent chance of scoring if that play was completed, according to Next Gen Stats.
But it wasn’t meant to be and Ekeler will have a hard time forgetting about it.
“It hurts me so bad that just knowing that we literally would have gone 99 yards from the 1-yard line, as far back as you can, and literally end it with zero time on the clock on a trick-play lateral to win the game,” Ekeler said. “How epic would that have been? … I feel like someone punched me right in the face.”
ALLEN MAKES HISTORY
It wasn’t all bad for Allen, who made Chargers history Sunday.
Allen moved to third on the Chargers’ all-time receptions list. He recorded 13 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown versus the Panthers. He has 548 career receptions.
Allen surpassed Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, who had 541 catches with the Chargers.
INJURIES
The Chargers’ injuries continued to mount in Week 3.
Right tackle Bryan Bulaga (back), cornerback Chris Harris Jr. (foot) and wide receiver Mike Williams (hamstring) left the game with injuries.
Chargers coach Anthony Lynn didn’t provide updates following the game.
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