The Los Angeles Chargers took early control of the AFC West division race with a come-from-behind 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Kicker Cameron Dicker nailed a 43-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to give the Chargers the victory. The win moved the Chargers to 3-0 for the season, the first time the they have been 3-0 since 2002.
The Chargers are 3-0 against AFC West teams, the first time since 2006 that a team has started 3-0 and gone 3-0 within their division. That team was the 2006 Chicago Bears, who ended the season in the Super Bowl. The Broncos dropped to 1-2 for the season. The Chargers are two games ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and the Broncos. All three of these teams are 1-2.
After taking an early 10-0 lead over the Broncos on Sunday, the Broncos stormed back scoring 17 points in a 3 minute and 16 second span late in the 2nd quarter and early in third period, to take a 17-10 lead with 12:02 remaining in the third period. After an exchange of field goals, the Broncos looked to be control of the game with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
But this Charger team under head coach Jim Harbaugh does not quit. Quarterback Justin Herbert, with the help of a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on safety Talanoa Hufanga, drove the Chargers into Bronco territory, connecting with running back Omarion Hampton for a key 23-yard reception.
With a second down-and-6 from the Broncos 20-yard line, Herbert scrambled to his left and while on the run, with a defensive player hanging on him, through a perfect side arm bullet to wide receiver Keenan Allen in the left end zone for a touchdown. Allen also had a player hanging on him but got free enough to make a tough catch in the end zone. With the extra point the game was tied at 20-20 with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
The Broncos went three-and-out on their next possession, giving the ball back to the Chargers with 1:37 left in the game. From their own 32-yard line, Herbert drove the Chargers to the Broncos 25-yard line and with the clocking ticking down to zero seconds got the game winning field goal from Dicker. Harbaugh was elated.
“I don’t think I have the vocabulary to really express how great I feel with this win and just the admiration for our team and for our players and coaches and just everybody,” Harbaugh said. “It’s just another game – three wins, three games and it’s taken everybody in all these games – Gritty, spectacular, that’s about the best word I can come up with to describe it. [It’s] just a great thrill of winning. [It’s a] wonderful, wonderful feeling of victory, great thrill of victory. That’s about all I got.” He actually had a lot more to say about the win.
“I think it’s a signature win,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s just one that reveals what I call a ‘character win.’ It reveals that, it reveals your character. Those fourth quarter comebacks and that all-out hustle again that you see from our guys from the first snap of the game to the end – The excellence of the players and their conditioning.”
The Chargers have offensively been riding the right arm of Herbert through the first three game, Herbert leads the NFL in passing yardage at 286.7 yards per game. He has thrown for six touchdowns and has just one interception. Allen is leading the Chargers in receptions with 19 and has caught a touchdown pass in all three games.
Herbert is doing an excellent job of spreading the ball around and is using his legs more this season to make clutch plays. Herbert was asked about his amazing touchdown throw to Allen after the game and what he saw of it.
“I didn’t see it,” Herbert said. “I didn’t really know what had happened. I was on the ground. I checked the replay, I guess, or everyone’s reactions. I think I found out that way. I’m sure he made a great play. I will watch it tonight, but I’m sure it was an incredible catch by Keenan. Like I said, he makes plays. I saw him. The defender wasn’t looking and that’s advantage-Keenan for sure.”
The Broncos defense was tough and physical on Sunday. Herbert was sacked 5 times and hit 14 times in the game. The Chargers will need to work on their protection issues and get the running game going. Herbert threw 47 passes on Sunday and that is too many. The offense needs to be more balanced to keep the heat off of Herbert.
The Chargers will travel to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to take on the New York Giants. The game will be played on Sunday, September 28 and will start at 10:00 PST. The game will be televised locally on CBS.
The Giants are 0-3 on the season and have decided to switch quarterbacks for this game, benching veteran Russell Wilson and starting Jaxson Dart, a rookie first-round pick from Ole Miss. This will be Dart’s first career start in the NFL. Dart has never thrown a pass in an NFL game.
Through three games, the Giants offense is averaging 17.3 points per game, 27th in the NFL. The Chargers defense, which has been playing well this season, is giving up 16.7 points per game, which ranks 4th in the NFL. Safety Derwin James was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 3. James is a handful for any offense and for an inexperienced quarterback he is going to be a handful.
The Giants have some nice young players on both sides of the ball. Wide Receiver Malik Nabors is easily one of the best young receivers in the game and rookie running back Cam Skattebo is a tough running back to bring down. The Giants defensive line has good young talent led by Kayvon Thibodeaux and rookie Abdul Carter.
So, despite the Giants 0-3 record, this road game could end up being challenging for the unbeaten Chargers. But Harbaugh is not satisfied, and he should have his team ready. When asked his thoughts about being 3-0, Harbaugh responded, “Good. Can’t be 4-0 unless you’re 3-0.” He is already looking ahead to the Giants.