After suffering defeat to the Broncos on Sunday, the Chargers have now blown four consecutive, double-digit leads of 17 points, 17 points, 16 points, and 21 points respectively. Los Angeles has lost three of those games.
While many are still trying to figure out what happened in Empower Field at Mile High, here are my takeaways from Los Angeles’ 31-30 loss to Denver in Week 8.
Justin Herbert remains the bright spot
Herbert has been the primary reason that the Chargers have been in every single game this season, and it was no different on Sunday afternoon.
The rookie may have started out slow, boasting four drives that resulted in two punts, an interception and a turnover on down, but he kept cool and turned things around quickly after.
Herbert completed 13 consecutive passes. Included in that streak was all three of his touchdowns. He may have thrown an interception in the second half when trying to find wide receiver Mike Williams in the end zone, but that was his only hiccup.
At the end of the day, Herbert completed 67.4% of his passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns against one of the league’s most stingy defenses.
When you’re doing everything you can to put your team in position to win games, it then becomes the defense’s responsibility to back it up, which they failed to do.
Running game came to life
It was becoming evident that the running game was becoming nonexistent without RB Austin Ekeler in the starting lineup.
Prior to the game, rookie Joshua Kelley failed to surpass 30 rushing yards in the three outings prior to and Justin Jackson was coming off a performance where he only he ran for 12 yards.
Coach Anthony Lynn made it a priority that he wanted to get back to running the ball efficiently, and the unit came up in a big way. Facing a defense that was only allowing 109 rushing yards per game, the Chargers ran for 210 yards.
Jackson was the leading rusher with 89 yards on 17 carries, but Troymaine Pope, who signed off the practice squad, made the most of his opportunities, rushing for 67 yards on 10 carries. Kelley finished with 32 yards with his longest carry being 22 yards.
A lot of credit goes to the offensive line, who did a nice job of clearing holes for the backs all afternoon long.
Defensive meltdown
One of the biggest storylines to follow in this game was an issue that’s been ongoing all season, with that being the defensive consistency. Like any other given Sunday, the Chargers looked like a top ranked unit, but they fell apart out of the tunnel.
Los Angeles’ defense allowed four Denver touchdowns in just a quarter and a half. While there were missed tackles, blown assignments and coverages, and bone-headed penalties in critical moments, it’s coming to the point to where defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is the one to blame.
L.A. was making plays in the first half, but a lack of an adjustment was something that the Broncos exploited. Bradley failed to mix up the coverages and utilize different blitz packages to continue to stress QB Drew Lock.
Instead, he relied on his Cover 3 scheme, where Denver then had success. Lock went into the half with just 58 yards, but finished the game with 248 yards and three touchdowns.
It’s become clear that the team has the defensive players to get the job done, even with the injuries, but the lack of adjustments to hold a lead is becoming a consistent trend that they can’t afford to happen anymore.
Anthony Lynn is on the hot seat, again
Just when you thought three straight games of blown leads of at least 16 points was enough, the Chargers made you think again on Sunday. The thing that’s been commonly pointed to for these blunders has been injuries. But it’s reached a deeper level.
Lynn has struggled to adjust his game plan and strategy throughout to put full games together and get wins. Los Angeles is 3-14 in one-score games over the last two seasons. They are 0-8 in the AFC West over the same span.
Despite the injuries to key players, L.A. has more than enough talent to beat anyone in the league. They’ve shown that in the first two or three quarters by putting together huge leads, but those leads have gone to waste in each of those contests.
Lynn is coveted as the person he is, the strong voice he has and the impact he’s made in the community, but his coaching is not cutting it anymore.
Read the first sentence of this article again. Four in a row is just unacceptable, and it’s gotten to the point where change must occur, whether it’s getting rid of Lynn, Bradley or both.