It was not the immediate response the Los Angeles Chargers were seeking, but it was a response nonetheless. And now this defense has cleared a necessary hurdle as the playoffs approach.
The Chargers’ second-half comeback against the Denver Broncos on Thursday night ended up not being enough to clinch a postseason spot. The Indianapolis Colts held on to beat the Tennessee Titans in the early window Sunday, and the Chargers will have to wait until at least Saturday — when they play at the New England Patriots — to secure a berth in Jim Harbaugh’s first season.
What the turnaround did produce, however, was evidence of Harbaugh’s culture — evidence of resiliency and the Chargers’ ability to rebound, particularly on defense.
It just took a half for them to find it within themselves.
With 6:22 to play in the first half Thursday night, the Chargers were facing the negative momentum of seven miserable and uncharacteristic quarters. They had not forced a punt since the third quarter of a Week 14 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. They had failed to make the necessary plays down the stretch of that game, allowing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to lead a winning field goal drive over the final 4:35 of regulation. They gave up over 500 yards and 40 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15. And then the Denver Broncos scored touchdowns on their first three drives to open this pivotal divisional December matchup.
All week heading into the Broncos game, the Chargers had talked about the importance of responding. The first three drives Thursday night represented the opposite of that. The Chargers could not stop the run. They did not tackle well. The Broncos stayed on script and moved the ball at will. They went 72 yards on 10 plays on the opening possession, 70 yards on 12 plays on the second possession and 70 yards on six plays on the third possession. The Broncos had an 80 percent rushing success rate on the first three drives, according to TruMedia. They gained 15 first downs despite quarterback Bo Nix attempting just two passes that traveled more than 7 yards in the air.
This felt like a full-on tailspin for a defense that had been the Chargers’ most reliable unit all season. As coordinator Jesse Minter said the day after the debacle against the Bucs: “It can be a one-off if we respond the right way. If we don’t, then it becomes a trend.” The defense’s season was trending in the wrong direction. And then, almost out of nowhere, the Chargers regained control and pulled out of this dive.
The Chargers allowed a field goal on the opening drive of the second half. They did not allow another point until just more than a minute remained in regulation, after they had built a double-digit lead. They forced three straight Broncos punts, stops that gave the ball back to a red-hot Justin Herbert and helped spur an 11-point second-half comeback.
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“We just took a look in the mirror and were kind of sick of it — sick of how we played in the first half, sick of how we played in the last game (against the Bucs),” defensive lineman Morgan Fox said. “Everybody kind of locked in together and said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to let this s— go anymore.’ And that’s what we did.”
In a perfect world for the Chargers, they would have started this game fast. They would have suffocated the Broncos on the opening drives and delivered an emphatic message after their worst performance of the season against Tampa Bay.
It did not happen that way, of course. But the fact that the Chargers had to turn around their performance in the middle of the game might reveal more about the true identity of this defensive group. Minter said during the week that this Broncos game would be a test of the “foundation” the Chargers had been building since the players arrived at the facility in April.
“You hope that you have a strong enough foundation,” Minter said, “that you’ve done enough things together, that you can look at each other, you can fix your problems and trust each other.”
The clearest evidence yet of that foundation came in the second half Thursday night. The Chargers tried to regroup over the four days from Sunday to Thursday. But they came out flat. So on the sideline and in the locker room at SoFi Stadium, they had to dig deeper.
What they discovered was a resiliency they had not yet needed this season.
“That’s what we found out today: That we’re built for it,” cornerback Kristian Fulton said.
A few sparks led to the turnaround.
After the Broncos scored their three straight touchdowns, the Chargers were desperate for a big play from one of their leaders — the type of play that could infuse energy and confidence into the reeling group. It did not come on the first play of that next drive, as Nix got outside the pocket on a designed rollout and scrambled 15 yards up the right sideline.
Minter brought a blitz on the next play. He walked down safety Derwin James Jr. to the edge.
An injury to safety Marcus Maye in the first quarter had changed James’ role. James had been playing primarily nickel in the second half of the season, a position that lines him up closer to the ball. But Maye’s injury forced James to play more safety. The Chargers were down two safeties, with Elijah Molden (knee) inactive and Alohi Gilman (hamstring) on injured reserve. James at safety meant he was aligning in the deep part of the field more often.
On this play, though, Minter got James in the mix at the line of scrimmage. James blitzed off the right side. To the inside, defensive lineman Teair Tart occupied two Broncos offensive linemen — right guard Quinn Meinerz and center Luke Wattenberg — with his rush. That left Joey Bosa one-on-one with right tackle Mike McGlinchey. Bosa won that matchup and got home to Nix for the sack.
“It was great pocket push by Teair,” Bosa said. “I’ll take one. He curled up nicely for me.”
Bosa sacks Bo 🤷♂️#DENvsLAC on Prime Video
Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Ll8xbagITK— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2024
The Broncos punted two plays later. That Bosa sack changed the game.
Cameron Dicker’s fair-catch kick pulled the Chargers within one possession heading into halftime. The defense forced a second consecutive punt to set up that historic moment.
In the second half, the Chargers came out with considerably more physicality and energy at the line of scrimmage. This allowed them to defend the run consistently.
In the first half, the Chargers had an 18.2 percent success rate against the run, according to TruMedia. In the second half, they had an 87.5 percent success rate.
The resurgent run defense keyed the second-half performance. The Broncos were driving on the first possession of the second half. They faced a first-and-10 from the Chargers’ 30-yard line. Running back Audric Estime took a handoff to the left side. James was walked down again from his safety spot. He crashed down from the back side of the play. Tart got penetration up the middle. The two collapsed on Estime for the tackle for loss. The Broncos settled for a field goal two plays later.
On the opening play of the next drive, Tart had a dominant rep on the interior, pancaking Broncos guard Ben Powers to blow up a rush up the middle from running back Blake Watson.
On the next possession, the Broncos gained a first down and were driving near midfield. They faced a second-and-10 from their own 48. Running back Javonte Williams took a stretch handoff to the left. Tuli Tuipulotu was one-on-one with left tackle Garett Bolles. Tuipulotu stood up Bolles to set the edge, then shed and made the tackle on Williams after a 2-yard gain.
Stopping the run created pass-rush opportunities. And the strength of the Chargers’ roster was able to impress. The Chargers pressured Nix on 40 percent of his dropbacks in the second half, compared to 25 percent in the first half. They forced six third downs with 7 or more yards to gain in the second half. They only had three such snaps in the first half, and one of those was a third-and-13 in which the Broncos ran a draw.
Nix averaged -0.54 EPA per dropback when faced with pressure in the second half.
When the Chargers stop the run, Joey Bosa and the pass rush are able to get after opposing quarterbacks. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
“If we’re being honest with what it was, we weren’t playing third-and-4, third-and-3 and 2,” Fox said of the second half. “We got to a point where we were playing third-and-6-plus, and we were able to actually get after the quarterback. We weren’t having to worry about little dash passes of them running the ball or just catching the ball and running. So we were able to get after the passer once we really started stopping the run.”
This is the defensive recipe for the Chargers.
When they have played well this season, they have stopped the run, created advantageous downs and distances and allowed their push rush — the engine of the defense — to take over games.
When they have not played well, they have struggled against the run and gotten into too many third-and-manageable situations. The Chargers pass rush can be mitigated in these game scripts.
“The game plan was good,” Bosa said of Thursday’s first half. “I just think we needed to lock in on our technique and our job and trust each other.”
The Chargers answered one of the few remaining questions about their defense Thursday night.
How would they respond to the Bucs’ beatdown, to real adversity?
In the end, they had to take a few more punches and get knocked down again.
Now they have a clear idea of who they really are.
“We’re fighters,” Fulton said.
(Top photo of Morgan Fox tackling Javonte Williams: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
