In Week 17, the Los Angeles Chargers continued their resurgence by blasting the Los Angeles Rams, 31-10, to push their record to 10-6.
With a four-game winning streak, they have come a long way from the limping squad that had a 6-6 record about a month ago.
Running back Austin Ekeler had a monster performance on Sunday, running for 122 yards and two touchdowns while adding 39 yards on four receptions.
Those four receptions bumped him up to 103 on the season, which is a remarkable number of catches for a running back.
In doing so, he surpassed the legendary LaDainian Tomlinson for most receptions by a Bolts tailback in a single season.
Austin Ekeler passed LaDainian Tomlinson for the most receptions by a running back in a single season in franchise history (101).
— Chargers Wire (@TheChargersWire) January 1, 2023
On the season, Ekeler has 13 running touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns, putting him within striking distance of getting to 20, just as he did last season.
If he does so next week versus the Denver Broncos, he will also join Tomlinson in becoming one of a handful of running backs to ever score a total of 20 touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
Austin Ekeler needs 4 touchdowns over the next 2 weeks to hit 20 total touchdowns for the 2nd consecutive season. If he’s able to hit that mark, he’d be the first running back to do since… Ladainian Tomlinson in 2005-2006 – per StatMuse. pic.twitter.com/DRaEn4q0Y2
— Steven Haglund (@StevenIHaglund) December 27, 2022
Back in the day, Tomlinson was a beast for the Chargers, who were then based in San Diego, and he helped transform them from a basement team to one that was considered a contender.
His best season came in 2006 when he ran for 1,815 yards and scored a total of 31 touchdowns from scrimmage.
However, he was arguably not quite the same receiving threat that Ekeler is.
Over the last couple of years, he has emerged as L.A.’s biggest offensive threat, and although he’s more of a finesse back, he’s one of the better running backs when it comes to hitting seams and pushing forward into open space.
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