SoCal’s Josh Rosen has a great start against Chargers, but beyond that nothing was in Cards in 45-10 loss
Josh Rosen has had mostly good luck at StubHub Center.
As a junior quarterback at nearby St. John Bosco High, he won a state title there. As a nationally ranked tennis prodigy, its courts were his home.
But on Sunday, in his first game there as an NFL player, the once-friendly confines became a house of horrors.
After a fast start that saw him complete his first six passes — driving the Arizona Cardinals down the field twice to take a 10-0 lead — Rosen went 6 for 13 with one interception the rest of the way as the Chargers scored 45 consecutive points in a lopsided victory.
“I’ve been better,” he said. “It was nice coming back home. It’s where I grew up. Last time I was on this field was the state championship game so I have better memories than today.
“But we’ll go forward.”
Even the officials got in Rosen’s way, with one of them accidentally hitting his throwing hand just before a third-quarter pass attempt that fell incomplete.
“Oh that’s what that was,” Rosen said when asked about it after the game. “I thought somebody was swiping at me. You can’t do that though in the middle of a play.”
Rosen was brilliant on Arizona’s first two drives, finishing the opener with a 25-yard touchdown strike to Larry Fitzgerald, then marching the Cardinals to the Charger 12 before missing on two passes in the end zone and settling for a field goal.
But Rosen fumbled the first snap of Arizona’s third series and threw an interception less than three minutes later … and the rout was on.
“You have to give credit to the Chargers,” he said. “They started making plays and we didn’t.”
After passing for 79 yards in the first quarter, Rosen threw for just 26 more over the final three periods. On the other side of the field, the Chargers’ Philip Rivers was tying an NFL record with 25 consecutive completions as well as breaking the mark to start a game. The Miami Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill also completed 25 consecutive passes, but those came over two games in the 2015 season. The record for consecutive completions to start a game was 22 by Mark Brunell in 2006.
“That was nuts,” Rosen said. “I went up to him after the game and said good game and I was like ‘Bro, that was crazy.’ That’s why he is who he is.”
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
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