The Los Angeles Chargers lost their third consecutive game on Sunday night, dropping Justin Herbert and crew to 4-7 with their season hanging in the balance. Some Chargers fans did not like the series of events that occurred during their opening drive, one that ended in a field goal.

On 2nd & 9 inside the red zone, Herbert scrambled out of bounds for a gain of five yards. That would have set up a managable 3rd down from inside the 10-yard line for the Chargers. Instead it ended up being 3rd & 19 after a personal foul was called on the Chargers following a reaction from the LA sideline due to a non-call on what looked like a late hit on Herbert.

The referee for the game, Alan Eck, said that it was a bang-bang play so it went to the judgement of him and his crew. They deemed the tackle to be legal.

“So, the ruling on the field was that the quarterback was trying to gain yardage. While he was still in bounds, the defender committed to the tackle,” Eck said, via Joe Reedy. “And as his foot landed out of bounds, the defender made contact. So, since the defender already committed to the tackle while the quarterback was in bounds, it was deemed a legal hit.”

The Chargers had to settle for a field goal on the drive and did not get back into the red zone until their second drive of the third quarter. They scored only seven more points the rest of the game.

The call didn’t cost them the game, but perhaps things would have been different had the call gone the opposite way and the Chargers scored a touchdown to open the game. Regardless, the Chargers find themselves in a bad spot right now.