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The Chargers came up short on Sunday, falling 31-28 to the Broncos in a bizarrely managed game that involved three-quarters of Los Angeles starters, despite having their playoff spot and seed secured.
Here’s who has momentum leading into the playoffs and who will need to bounce back.
Stud: Keenan Allen
Allen extended his streak of games with at least five receptions to seven with eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, the second of which came from backup Chase Daniel as the Chargers pulled within one possession. It felt, as it often has this season while Allen has been healthy, as though the veteran was open every time the ball came his way. Granted, Allen was matched up with Ja’Quan McMillian, a corner playing his first NFL game, for the majority of the contest. Still, it’s a nice way to ramp up for the regular season, and is only the second time this year Allen has gone over 100 yards.
Dud: Roster management
The fact that the Chargers played their starters into the fourth quarter in a meaningless game, given their injury luck this season, is strange. What makes it stranger is that Joey Bosa exited the game for some time after seemingly reaggravating his groin injury and Mike Williams (back) had to be carted off the field, and then the Chargers still left the rest of the starters out there. You want your starters to carry some momentum into the playoffs and beat a divisional rival. But LA has struggled with injuries all season, and you’d think that heading into the tournament as healthy as possible would take precedence over getting to 11 wins on the season. Beyond the broad scope of things, there are smaller roster decisions to peer at. Why was rookie running back Isaiah Spiller inactive in a game where you had an idea that backups might get some action? With quarterback Easton Stick a pending free agent, why not make him the active backup, with Chase Daniel likely to retire after the season to evaluate the backup spot going into the offseason?
Stud: Kyle Van Noy
Van Noy has come alive to end the season, finishing with a sack in each of his last five games, including Sunday’s contest. The return of Joey Bosa has opened up Van Noy’s role in the last two weeks as well, which partially spurred a game on Sunday in which Van Noy was able to both sack Russell Wilson and tip a pass that resulted in a Sebastian Joseph-Day interception. With all three of Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Van Noy healthy for the playoff run, the Chargers should be able to scheme up one-on-one matchups for each of them. With the way he’s playing, that bodes well for a Van Noy playoff breakout game.
Dud: Deep defense
Russell Wilson completed three passes that went for 50 or more yards on Sunday, a severe departure from the quarterback Broncos fans have seen for most of the season. Perhaps you can chalk things up to the Chargers rotating players on defense, which broke down communication between defenders used to seeing other faces next to them on the back line. But ultimately, those plays indicate a Chargers defensive identity that the team had seemingly buried after the bye week but is beginning to re-emerge down the stretch. With a gauntlet of quarterbacks beginning with the ascendant Trevor Lawrence and likely involving one or more of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and/or Joe Burrow looming, the Chargers need to get their act together if they’re going to make a run.
Stud: Austin Ekeler
Ekeler’s stat line isn’t sexy – 11 carries for 34 yards with a lost fumble, four receptions for 36 yards – but think of this as a season achievement award. With four catches on Sunday, Ekeler passed Keenan Allen for the most receptions in a single season by a Charger with 107. This number is also tied for second in receptions by a running back in a single season with 2018 Christian McCaffrey. The former undrafted free agent also holds a three-touchdown lead over Detroit’s Jamaal Williams going into Sunday Night Football, so there’s a good chance Ekeler ends the regular season as the total touchdown king.
Dud: Alohi Gilman
Gilman has been phenomenal over the past few weeks as he’s filled in for an injured Derwin James or cycled in with Nasir Adderley. Still, Sunday’s performance represented somewhat of a returning to Earth moment for the third-year player. There was the deep shot to Jerry Jeudy at the end of the first half, on which Gilman seemed to slow up as if the play was over before realizing that Russell Wilson had launched the ball in his direction. It’s the second very visible time that Gilman has declared a play over before the referees do: against Miami, he celebrated his forced fumble while Tyreek Hill scooped it out of the rugby scrum and took it in for a touchdown. Gilman did redeem himself later on Sunday when he recovered a punt muffed by Denver’s Brandon Johnson, but after the way he’s performed lately, Sunday was still an underwhelming showing.
Stud: Offensive line
Denver only hit Chargers quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Chase Daniel twice in this game, one of which was Baron Browning’s fifth sack of the season when he took down Herbert. Otherwise, I thought the offensive line was outstanding in this game, especially compared to some of their recent performances. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the team squandered the performance, with two lost fumbles and a number of costly drops that stalled drives that have normally been stopped by offensive line penalties. On the bright side, if the line comes into the playoffs playing like this, and the rest of the offense executes, the Chargers should put up points in bunches as they try to make a run.
Dud: Run defense
Giving up 205 yards to the Broncos on the ground is suboptimal, of course, but what I find more concerning is that Latavius Murray averaged 6.9 yards per carry on 15 rushes that all seemed to find cavernous holes on the offensive line. Again, there are some caveats to be made with the rest patterns of the starting players. But Murray stayed under 7 yards a carry primarily because the second-level defenders for LA were speedy enough to catch the 32-year-old. Next week, the Chargers will have to contend with Travis Etienne, a true burner who will not give LA as many opportunities to make mistakes without being severely punished. At this point, we know the Chargers aren’t going to field a top-tier run defense, but they’ll still need to be better than what they showed on Sunday to get by in the playoffs.