EL SEGUNDO — When the Chargers traded safety Alohi Gilman Jr. to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, the move was designed to provide depth and strengthen a position of need while likely Hall of Fame pass rusher Khalil Mack was sidelined by an elbow injury.
Oweh had rushed well while with the Ravens, but he hadn’t recorded a sack to start the season in Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Chargers’ pass rush had gone stagnant after Tuli Tuipulotu had a career-high four sacks in a loss Sept. 28 to the New York Giants, one game after Mack was hurt.
The results of the trade have been everything the Chargers could have hoped for, with Oweh contributing four sacks and 12 tackles in five games since the Oct. 7 deal. He’s been especially important to the overall pass rush since Mack returned from injured reserve Oct. 19.
At this point in the season, with seven regular-season games to play, the Chargers’ coaching staff would give general manager Joe Hortiz an A-plus grade for making the move well before last week’s NFL trade deadline. It’s paid dividends in obvious and also subtle ways.
“It’s what wins in this league, the ability to affect the quarterback,” Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said. “Having that edge room be a strength, I think any coach would love to have that. So, (Oweh) was a huge addition for us. It’s made the whole room better. It’s made the defense better.”
By adding Oweh and getting Mack back on the field, the Chargers have re-established the three-player rotation that worked so well for them last season with Mack, Tuipulotu and Joey Bosa. It wasn’t nearly effective this season without Mack and with Bosa having signed with the Buffalo Bills.
What’s more, the Chargers have been bolstered by the midseason emergence of second-year defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe, who has four sacks in the past six games, including a career-high two during the Chargers’ victory Oct. 23 over the Minnesota Vikings.
Tuipulotu has a team-leading eight sacks, Oweh, Mack and Eboigbe have four each and linebacker Daiyan Henley has three. Bud Dupree, who filled in as the Chargers’ third edge rusher in the absence of Mack and continues to play a role as a depth player, has one sack.
“He’s been productive,” Minter said of Oweh. “He’s allowed other guys to be productive, as well, at times by taking attention away. The way those four guys (Mack, Tuipulotu, Oweh and Dupree), especially the three that are out there on a lot of passing downs, the way they’ve rushed the last three or four games is the great vision we have for the second part of the year.”
PASS RUSH (PART 2)
In addition to their three-game winning streak, the Chargers also have won eight of nine games this season with Mack on the field. Their lone defeat was his first game back from IR on Oct. 19, a loss to the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium. Mack has at least one sack in four of his past five games.
Mack and Hall of Famer Kevin Greene are the only players with 35 sacks or more with three different teams since the league made it an official statistic for the 1982 season. Mack has 35 sacks (and counting) with the Chargers, 40.5 with the then-Oakland Raiders and 36 with the Chicago Bears.
EXTRA POINTS
Quarterback Justin Herbert is third in the NFL with 19 touchdown passes through the season’s first 10 weeks. His next touchdown pass will give him 20 for the sixth consecutive season to start his career, a feat only Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Russell Wilson accomplished.. …
Herbert also is second in the league in passing yardage with 2,610, trailing only Daniel Jones of the Colts, who has 2,659 yards.