Turnovers played a huge role in the Los Angeles Chargers’ loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 18. Two balls were punched out in the regular season from Austin Ekeler and DeAndre Carter.
At Tuesday’s media availability, head coach Brandon Staley fielded some tough questions about them.
Staley gave a lengthy explanation of what caused his players to lose control of the football in key situations. He gave all credit to the Broncos for making big plays that altered the course of the matchup and made sure to note that he and his staff would emphasize ball security moving forward.
“I think that what you saw on [WR DeAndre Carter] D.C.’s is a blind spot. That happens when you are carrying the ball, especially. A blind spot is someone who you can’t see. [RB] Austin [Ekeler], that was unexpected. Justin Simmons made a great play and flashed unexpectedly. He was able to get his hat on the football there. You know the story of turnovers.
“We were able to finish even yesterday, but those two definitely prevented us from scoring a lot more points because we really moved the ball well yesterday. You just know that if you can secure it, how much more prolific you are going to be offensively. That is certainly something that we’re going to be emphasizing every single day moving forward. Our guys have been outstanding all year with it.”
While Chargers fans certainly won’t be satisfied with the result their team achieved in this Week 18 matchup, their primary concern will now turn to the all-important elimination games in the playoffs, where Los Angeles’ margin for error will be even slimmer than before, facing a Jaguars team that is tied for second in forced fumbles (13).
Watch for the Bolts to protect the football at every opportunity and for the team to exercise better fundamentals against the Jacksonville in its Wild Card matchup this weekend.